Darlington take on Northampton Town tonight as they seek a second round FA Cup place. Quakers and Cobblers played out a 1-1 draw just over a week ago and are forced to go again, this time at Sixfields. Darlington will fancy their chances in the replay thanks to a good performance in the first game and a convincing 2-0 win at Brentford last weekend. The result in London has set Dave Penney's side up nicely.

Darlington though will be forced into changes for the encounter. Loan players Joe Colbeck, Richie Foran and Ian Miller will be unavailable to play which means a rested Rob Purdie should resume action in the first team. Tim Ryan continues to be absent through injury along with Martin Smith however Pawel Abbott should again play some part as he continues to return to full fitness.

"We played very well at Brentford and deserved the victory, especially based on the first half performance. It sets us up nicely to go and travel to Northampton. We are obviously missing a few players in the shape of Richie Foran, Joe Colbeck and Ian Miller which does weaken us but we've got Rob Purdie who was given the weekend off to freshen himself up so he will play. Other than that there shouldn't be a great number of changes," said Penney.

"Whoever we put in should go into this one thinking they can win it. Certainly after our performance against them at home we know we are more than capable of getting goals and we know we are capable of keeping it tight at the back so we are looking forward to it and every other game at the moment," he continued.

Since the previous meeting between the two side Northampton have slipped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Crewe. The result means that the Cobblers have scored just twice in their last five games. This is a real concern for Northampton boss Stuart Gray as he prepares his side for tonight's match.

The poor form in front of goal coincides with Andy Kirk hitting a barren patch. The Northern Ireland international is without a goal in his past five games, but Gray is keen to take the pressure off his number one striker, insisting the rest of the team has to start stepping up to the goalscoring plate. A recent penalty miss against Southend for Kirk could have dented his confidence believes Gray.

"My worry at the moment is we aren't scoring goals," admitted Gray. "We haven't scored a goal in our last three league games, and that is a concern. Forwards go on streaks where they are full of confidence, and whether the penalty miss against Southend has knocked Andy's confidence I don't know. But it is such a thin dividing line."

"Andy hits the inside of the post with his penalty and it goes in, then suddenly he is still on a roll. But the thing is we are probably not providing enough for him in the final third We haven't had that little bit of quality, or been clinical enough with a cross or a pass. But Andy has done a good job for us. At the moment he is going through a bit of a poor run, but we can't put the pressure on Andy Kirk to keep scoring the goals."

The winners of tonight's first round replay will take on Walsall in the next round.