It is third versus bottom this when Darlington travel to Tamworth, at least according to the recent form.

Five wins out of six matches have eased relegation worries and pushed Quakers up to 13th in the National League North and third in the form table, their latest success being Saturday’s 1-0 win against Curzon Ashton with a Dave Syers goal.

It was Syers’ seventh goal of the season, but he faces a race against time to get to Tamworth for the 7.45pm kick-off.

This afternoon in Wetherby he has the latest of his exams en route to becoming a chartered accountant, his chosen profession since turning his back on professional football after leaving Doncaster Rovers two years ago.

He explained: “I’ve got an exam on Tuesday and won’t get there until half an hour before kick-off. But that’s part-time football when you’ve got a team full of players who have other jobs and then have a midweek game.

“These are the last two exams for professional level, I’ve got the final three advanced after this – I’ve got two in July and one in November – so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Similarly, the team’s winning run means there is light at the end of the tunnel in Quakers’ quest to avoid relegation, their situation looking much brighter than it was two months ago after one win in 12 games.

They have since enjoyed some notable wins against teams in play-off contention, while Tamworth are bottom having not won in nine games.

“If we give the same amount of application that we gave on Saturday then I think we’ll get something,” said Syers.

“We won four games out of five, most of which were in the top half, now we’ve got five games, most of which are against teams in the bottom half, it would be very Darlington of us to start slipping up now.

“So to start this run with a win, and the manner of the win, we can take great pride and belief in it.”

Tamworth are one of four teams in the current bottom six that Quakers have lost to this term, the Lambs winning 1-0 at Blackwell in November.

It was a game Reece Styche watched from the balcony before completing his transfer from Tamworth to Quakers, since when the striker has scored nine goals, taking his tally for the season to 19 in 27 games for each club combined.

Like Syers, Styche is also an accountant but he has no concerns about arriving in time for kick-off as he lives in Hednesford, only 17 miles from Tamworth.

Having scored three goals in his past five games it would be a blow to manager Tommy Wright should midfielder Syers be delayed, though Joe Wheatley is available for selection.

The midfielder was left out of the squad on Saturday in favour of Mitchell Glover, the 16-year-old who came in for his first start for the club.