Coppell vouches for Town test
Should Shrewsbury Town need a reminder of the threat Darlington can pose at Gay Meadow on Saturday, they need only ask Steve Coppell. One of English football's most respected managers saw his Reading side - albeit with nine changes from the regular Premiership line-up - pushed to the limits in Tuesday's Carling Cup tie at the Madjeski Stadium.
The Quakers actually led on three separate occasions through a Simon Johnson penalty and two goals from the evergreen Julian Joachim on a night when Gary Peters and Town chief scout Alan Fogarty were amongst the crowd.
Each time they were pegged back but Darlington still retained the presence of mind to take the tie to penalties, only to agonisingly lose 4-2 in the shoot-out.
Disappointment for Dave Hodgson and his team on their six-hour journey back up north then, but Darlington will still head to Gay Meadow tomorrow riding the crest of a wave.
Widely perceived as one of the biggest spenders in League Two, Darlington were many observers' idea of genuine promotion contenders before a ball was kicked in anger.
Routine opening wins against Macclesfield and Accrington Stanley strengthened that belief before a mini-wobble came with a 4-1 defeat at Boston and reverses against Swindon and Walsall.
But Darlington are now clicking into top gear and have accumulated eight points from their last four outings to move menacingly up the table
Not that Shrewsbury should be worrying too much about their opponents.
Convincing 3-0 away victories at Stockport and Hartlepool have given chance to make hay while the sun shines on home territory, albeit the Gay Meadow clashes with Darlington and Walsall on Tuesday will not go down as the easiest assignments of the season.
History also favours Shrewbury with tomorrow's visitors having headed back to the north-east with victory on just three of 16 occasions.
And Darlington are also faced with a potential defensive crisis with Joey Hutchinson and Patrick Collins both struggling to be fit for the match.
That leaves Darren Holloway as the only genuine fit centre-half and, although Brian Close and Kalu Ngoma could both slot in there, a loan signing could still be a possibility before tomorrow.
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