Story by Kevin Luff - 5th October 2006

Darlington head into their latest Friday night fixture with concerns over midfielder Clark Keltie and forward Gaetano Giallanza. Keltie made his return to first team action last Friday night during the 2-2 draw against Grimsby Town but has since picked up a thigh strain. Giallanza is struggling to shake off a knee problem however Martin Gray, who is in charge of first team affairs along with Neil Maddison, has made it clear both players will be given as much time as possible before being ruled out of contention completely.

In better news both Patrick Collins and Joey Hutchinson look set to be involved at the back. The probable absence of Giallanza and the availability of Collins may well be the cue for the temporary management team to try something different. Quite if this materialises yet remains to be seen with Gray keeping his cards, understandably, close to his chest in the build up to the game. Regardless of systems and players available Darlington will face a stern test against Rochdale.

The Spotland based team have won back to back away games against Boston United and Wrexham before picking up a more than useful point against Shrewsbury at home. With five goals in the last two away games manager Steve Parkin and his side should have little to fear when heading to the North East. Parkin does admit though that Rochdale's first priority will be to stop Quakers from their playing their own game - something which has been done by other teams already this campaign with some success.

"I think we will go down there knowing how to win away from home and that's very important," said Parkin. "The games at Boston and Wrexham differed immensely but ended with the same result which was good. We will have to dig in first of all and make sure we stop Darlington playing first and foremost and then play our own game. It is a super place to go, it's a wonderful stadium and great pitch."

Whilst Rochdale have enjoyed encouraging results on their travels their preparations for Friday have been hampered somewhat with several injuries and the actions of a disgruntled supporter. Chris Dagnall (ribs), James Sharp (Achilles), Lee Crooks (ankle) and Nathan Stanton (dead leg) joined Mark Jackson in the treatment room earlier this week as they sat out training. Dagnall received a blow to the ribs during the first half of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury. He struggled through the second half until Parkin withdrew him late in the game, prompting jeers from some supporters while one fan directly abused the Dale manager. Despite the recent results Parkin says it has been a difficult week and the reaction of the supporter has clearly left the Dale manager upset and puzzled.

"We'd had a very difficult week in which we'd got seven points out of a possible nine and to get verbally abused by one of the supporters for taking Chris Dagnall off - who was absolutely shattered - is beyond belief and I was looking for the guy at the end because I don't think there is any need for it," said Parkin. "The players tried their best against a team which has invested heavily in some very good players - something we couldn't do - and we stood up and were counted. If that's not acceptable I don't know what is."