DARLINGTON manager Steve Watson is demanding an immediate improvement from his players for their away game at Marine today.
Quakers endured a miserable night at Chorley on Tuesday, losing 5-2 after conceding three goals in a wretched first half that saw the manager make three subs at half time, and then another two by the hour mark, none of them injury-related.
“It’s been an unbelievably challenging start to the season but that performance was nowhere near acceptable and we understand that,” he said.
“The lads should have more guts and determination. We got outran, outworked and outbattled, as soon as Chorley got a goal we capitulated.
“It’s not tactics, not systems, and it’s not for the want of trying with shuffling the pack because we need to find the right back four. We made changes to find that formula.
“A couple of fans walked past the dugout at the end of the game and explained how far they’d come for the game, and I get that. Terry and I will always do our best for the club, we work our socks off.
“That performance and that result shouldn’t take anybody to rally the players. That should be a case of that is nowhere near the standards I set myself as a player, and they’re nowhere near the standards I set myself as a gaffer and Terry as a coach.
“That has to be the response, otherwise you’re in the wrong game. If you don’t respond positively and prove you’re much better than Tuesday, then it’s not a great sign.
“In their eyes, Chorley would have said that they scored some good goals on Tuesday, but in our eyes, all of them were largely preventable.
“I need to see a response. We need to see more bottle, the confidence coming back and that belief again. Those have to be the first ports of call.
“If you can’t outrun, outmuscle and outsavvy the opposition, then you’re going to struggle. That has to be our mentality now.”
Tom Bryant will return to the squad after a one match ban, while midfielder Ellis Stanton could come back into the starting line up. Mark Beck and Paddy McLaughlin both returned after injury in midweek, but several others are still out injured. Defender Hayden Atkinson, signed on loan from Carlisle, will play his second game.
Quakers have now dropped to second bottom in the table, level on points with today’s opponents but with a worse goal difference.
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