Richardson brings Quakers down to earth

Feb 9 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

DARLINGTON assistant boss Kevin Richardson has warned his side not to fritter away the momentum generated by their weekend win over promotion-chasing Rotherham United.

The Quakers completed an unlikely double over the Millers at the Arena on Saturday, but through bitter experience Richardson is resisting the temptation to get carried away.

The Football League’s bottom side face fellow strugglers Lincoln City at the Northern Echo Arena tonight with the luxury of a virtually fully fit squad – and Richardson believes another victory would have their relegation rivals looking over their shoulders again.

However, he knows how difficult it will be to record back-to-back wins – Darlington beat Rotherham at the Don Valley Stadium in January only to “waste” the win by slumping to defeat in their following game against Crewe.

Richardson said: “We have to build on Saturday’s result. The last time we beat Rotherham we went to Crewe and our first-half performance a few days later was unacceptable.

“The win was almost a waste of time because we did not gain anything immediately after that. We have told the players we can not allow that to happen again.

“It is important what happened at Crewe does not happen against Lincoln.

“It will be a nice change for the manager to be able to pick his team from the same squad with no new injuries because I don’t think that has happened too many times this season.

“If the players are rewarded with being in the team again, the responsibility is on them to produce the same performance and get the same result.”

Chris Sutton’s Lincoln have improved recently but still count as relegation rivals, and Richardson knows if the Quakers replicate the spirit and commitment of Saturday’s win they have a fighting chance.

He added: “It is not rocket science, we need as many points as we can.

“We took three on Saturday after a good performance, but that has gone now, it is history.

“Lincoln are going to make it difficult, but we are the home team and it is our responsibility to break them down and get enough goals to win the game.”

Darlington’s only injury doubts are Mark Bower (ankle ligaments), Noel Whelan (hamstring) and Chris Lumsdon, who is not match fit.