Stephen Thomas looks set to start

Quakers head for Gigg Lane and will be looking for their first win there since 1986 from the time of the old third division. Indeed Darlington victories at Bury's ground are fairly rare on the ground but a win is exactly what Quakers will need if they are to regain their play-off spot.

The game on Saturday also allows Darlington the chance to gain revenge for their 2-1 defeat earlier in the season at the Williamson Motors Stadium. Times however have changed a lot for Bury since that win, they are now battling off the pitch and have plenty of injury worries on it as well. Mat Barrass, Chris Porter, Paul Scott and Glyn Garner are all ruled out for Bury.

Darlington themselves have injury problems in the form of Adrian Webster, Curtis Fleming and Clark Keltie however the trio were all absent from Darlington's last match and so this comes as no surprise for the visitors. Meanwhile Stephen Thomas looks set to take part after playing the whole ninety minutes against Queen of the South in midweek. Craig Liddle will play his second competitive game since returning from injury. Liddle's return to first team duty has come at just the right time for Darlington as he adds experience which would otherwise be missing with the absence of Curtis Fleming.

"Its been quite quirky really," said Mark Proctor to Quakers' official site. "One seems to drop out and one seems to get themselves fit. I think it was important last week that Lidds was available, he wasn't in an ideal scenario to push him in but the circumstances dictated that. Our intentions were to bring him off after sixty minutes and give him a breather but he was instrumental in keeping things right at the back last week that we had to leave him on in the end and thank god he got through the ninety minutes with no real ill effects."

Liddle found his form straight away at Southend however one would think he would quite happily settle for a quieter afternoon at Gigg Lane tomorrow! Speaking to Darlington's official website Proctor paid tribute to Quakers' skipper for his return and finding top gear so quickly. "He gave a terrific performance. It was a terrific return from a disappointing period of injury for him."

Quakers have of course signed Bobby Petta this week however the Dutch winger is expected to start on the bench for his first game in a Darlington shirt despite playing in forty five minutes of the behind closed doors game on Wednesday afternoon.

Bury, like Darlington last season are going through the mill and speaking on Bury's official website Graham Barrow feels like the whole world is against him right now.

"There's never a dull day at Bury at the moment, at this moment in time it feels as though the world is against us," said Barrow. "I'm frightened to death of the phone ringing at the moment in case something else comes along."

The game at Gigg Lane should be an interesting one indeed. While Bury are near the wrong end of the table they are not in any immediate danger of joining the likes of Cambridge and Kidderminster Harriers and as their home form has shown they are capable of getting results. Indeed their results at Gigg Lane have been similar to Quakers form away from home so this has the makings of an interesting match.

To all those making the trip tomorrow have a safe journey and for those not able to make the game then remember full match commentary is available via Quakers World where Ray Simpson will give you the action as it happens. However your spending your weekend have a good one.

Last ten meetings

2004/05
League 2	Darlington	1-2	Bury	16-10-04
2003/04
Division 3	Bury	1-1	Darlington	28-02-04
Division 3	Darlington	1-3	Bury	25-10-03
2002/03
Division 3	Darlington	3-1	Bury	29-03-03
Division 3	Bury	2-2	Darlington	12-10-02
1995/96
Division 3	Darlington	4-0	Bury	20-04-96
Division 3	Bury	0-0	Darlington	04-11-95
1994/95
Division 3	Bury	2-1	Darlington	06-05-95
Division 3	Darlington	0-2	Bury	08-10-94
1993/94
Division 3	Darlington	1-0	Bury	07-05-94

Bury's last five games