Windass set to lift Quakers’ spirits

Jun 17 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

He is also hopeful of holding on to captain Steve Foster and centre-back Ian Miller, with contract talks slated for this week. After returning from a fortnight’s holiday yesterday, he will be sitting down with Darlington’s prospective new owner Raj Singh to discuss his transfer budget.

“Finances are still very, very tight and I have to budget accordingly,” he said.

“Hopefully, I will be sitting down with Raj to get more of an idea of how much we’ve got to play with. Certain players will inevitably cost more, strikers are always more expensive, so we need to be aware of that. It’s been interesting so far but there is still plenty of work to do and that includes talking to the lads from last year. I’m still hoping to get the skipper and Ian Miller to stay.

“There will inevitably be a few players who maybe wanted to leave but couldn’t get a club and that brings with it some challenges. But we’ll know more when we get back for pre-season on July 2.”

Meanwhile, Todd was pleased with a Carling Cup draw that sees Darlington matched with Leeds United. “You look at it two ways: victories are obviously the main thing that you want to get your season up and running, and from that perspective it is a difficult draw,” he said.

“We would hope that there’s a good following from Leeds that come down and that obviously will be good for the club with finances still a little bit tight.”