Story by Kevin Luff - 8th December 2006

Darlington manager Dave Penney once again faces defensive headaches. Quakers head to Stockport County but once again find themselves short of options at the back with Darren Holloway still on the treatment table. Cover was already thin on the ground and Mark Albrighton's hamstring injury in the 1-0 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night further complicates things.

Joey Hutchinson could perhaps be back in contention for a place in Penney's plans for Saturday but more realistically the Darlington boss will have to look elsewhere for the time being. Hutchinson has trained this week but is still feeling sore and may have to make his return to action in the reserves next week rather than at Stockport. Quakers could bring David Duke back into the defence or Kalusivikako Ngoma to cover for the gaps. Meanwhile the injury to Sam Russell will make sure that David Stockdale continues to deputise in between the sticks during his absence.

Stockport's defensive worries have been eased slightly. The hosts were set to be without regulars Ashley Williams and Rob Clare. The pair were both sent off during Stockport's 2-0 defeat at MK Dons on Tuesday night. Clare was given his marching orders for two yellow cards, while Williams was dismissed for a straight red card offence.

Clare will miss out on the game but Ashley Williams will be available for Saturday's clash against the Quakers after the FA overturned the red card dished out by referee Paul Taylor. Stockport felt the clash with Izale McLeod, which Williams was shown a red card for, was unavoidable and that it didn't deny a goalscoring opportunity as the ball had run through to goalkeeper James Spencer. The FA have agreed with Stockport's view and let the red card slide.

Both sides have seen good runs come to a close. Darlington went nine games unbeaten in all competitions recently until back to back defeats against Swansea City and Wycombe Wanderers. Stockport saw a run of five games unbeaten in all competitions draw to a close against MK Dons on Tuesday. Last season Quakers ran out 3-0 winners in this fixture but the hosts are in much better form this time around and a closer game can be expected.

Quakers started their game against Wycombe slowly and lost the game because of it. Penney is looking for a far better start from his team this time around and pointed out that the players can not hand an advantage so easily to an opposition on home turf.

"Three points would be nice but first and foremost you have to make sure you get something from the game," said Penney. "We made a point after watching the tape that we have to start better than we did on Tuesday. If you give a home team the intuitive then they are going to take it. We have to start better than we did and give it a really good go. It will not be easy, they've had a decent run but we'll have to sort out our own team first and get four defenders out on the pitch."