Darlington are looking for a hat-trick of wins when they go to Alfreton on Saturday.

Quakers have already beaten Alfreton twice this season in the Trophy and in the League at Blackwell Meadows, and a third victory at the Impact Arena would be timely, as they chase a place in the top three.

Alun Armstrong’s men have dropped to sixth in the table following a run of four games without a win – but with good performances in their last two matches against Buxton and Kidderminster - and now they’re looking to rediscover their excellent away form.

They’re just three points below third place, occupied by Chester.

It’s another opportunity to make sure that the clubs chasing the play off pack stay out of reach, as Alfreton are three places and eight points behind them with two games in hand.

“We’ve got to continue focussing on picking up points – we know what’s coming from Alfreton,” said Armstrong.

“They’re a big, difficult side to play against whenever we’ve played against them. Hopefully our front three lads will cause them more problems than what they’ll cause us.

“We’ve done really well against them in the first two games. We mixed the game up really well, and dealt with the threat of their centre forward, Matt Rhead. Alfreton play to their strengths, they have some good runners off him and they also play some decent football. We’ve got David Wheater back in there, so he should be able to contend with their threat.

“We need to match their physicality first and foremost and hopefully our playing style will be the better one on the day. As long as we keep that back door shut.”

“We need something from the other end. We played Alfreton twice earlier in the season, once with Mark Beck and once without, and we won both times.

“Yes, Becky is a miss, but the lads have to be confident enough to do what they did earlier in the season.”

After winning eight times away from home in the league this season, Quakers have lost their last two games on their travels, at Boston and Leamington.

Armstrong added: “I thought Boston fully deserved to beat us, and since then they’ve had some good results, they beat Chorley the other night.

“The Leamington game stuck with the fans and myself, because we didn’t deserve to lose that. We should have seen it through, it was so disappointing to lose all three points after being in the lead so late in the game.

“The lads responded well against Buxton and Kidderminster, although they looked a little bit tired last week against Kidderminster, they kept giving the ball away cheaply.

“It’s so tight in the top seven, one win can take you up to third. There are going to be ups and downs all the way through to the end of the season. We’ve got to try and stay within that pack and stay as close as we can to the leaders.

“It’s been different over the last few weeks, we’ve had a little bit of a lull, but we need to pick ourselves up.

“The lads know that promotion is up for grabs. There’s still a lot of football to be played, and we’ve got to keep doing what we know we’re capable of.

“I’m still trying to strengthen the squad, but it’s been very difficult because it’s something we can’t control. We’ve still got enough quality in the squad, it’s about the lads making sure that they can play to the levels that they’re capable of.”