Story by Kevin Luff - 5th December 2006

The old adage of concentrating on the league could not be more appropriate for Dave Penney's side who bowed out of the FA Cup to a high flying Swansea City side on Saturday. Quakers face a relentless programme of fixtures this coming December with Wycombe being the first of no less than six games.

Promotion remains the overriding concern for Darlington this campaign and an exit from the cup may have bought a winning run of six straight games to a close but three points at Adams Park would be doubtless more beneficial at this stage of the season.

Another win for Penney's men tonight could well see them climb from the cusp of the play-off pack into the mix as the all important Christmas calendar draws closer. Penney will be boosted by added defensive options as Mark Albrighton returns to contention. Given the wafer-thin depth at the back the on-loan Boston United player's inclusion is all but guaranteed.

Darlington assistant manager Martin Gray has taken heart from the performance against Swansea City and firmly believes a showing in much the same vain will go a long way to capturing maximum points from the fixture at Wycombe. Going forward Quakers had their chances to put Swansea to the sword but were found wanting for the first time under Penney at the back. Albrighton's impending arrival after a two game absence could well bring a return to the defensive tightness Darlington fans have become accustomed too since Penney took over at the helm.

"Even though it was a defeat on Saturday I felt it was a very good performance from the team. We've spoken very positively about the game after the match and training and the lads are really bright. If we take that type of performance into tomorrow night I think we've got a great chance of getting maximum points," said Gray yesterday before the team set off.

Wycombe are four points ahead of Quakers in League Two and are on the edge of the automatic promotion slots in the division. Having dispatched Lincoln City and MK Dons in recent weeks - two sides in the top seven - Gray is confident Darlington can get another result but is well aware the threat of the hosts pose.

"Wycombe will be tough. They are a good side but no different to MK Dons and other teams around the top that we've played of late," said Gray. "It is a tough test but we are going down there very confident but there is no lack of respect because Wycombe have got some good players. They've got Jermaine Easter who is banging them in for fun and Tommy Mooney has always been a threat throughout his career. They are always capable of scoring goals. We are aware of it all but hopefully we have enough in the bank to come away with three points."

Ahead of the game Wycombe have been handed a blow with the news that keeper Ricardo Batista has been recalled by Fulham. The Blues were informed of the recall late on Friday morning by the Premiership club as they prepared for their FA Cup tie at Stockport the same evening, a game for which Ricardo was ineligible. The Portuguese U21 international goalkeeper made 20 appearances for the Blues keeping clean sheets in half of those matches.

"It's a blow to lose Ricardo there's no doubt about it, he's been excellent for us," Wycombe manager Paul Lambert. "He was a big part of things here and 10 clean sheets is a great return. But we know that this can happen with loans and thats the burden of them, we have to get on with it. Jamie Young has never let us down and he was excellent again on Friday."