Stephen Thompson is rated as doubtful for Darlington’s game this evening when they head to West Yorkshire intending to make it four wins in a row.

Brighouse Town is the destination, though Thompson’s condition is not 100 per cent due to a hamstring problem sustained just before the break during Saturday’s win over Padiham.

He was replaced by Liam Hatch, who is in contention to start this evening if Thompson is unable to take part at the Dual Seal Stadium against 16th-placed opposition.

Brighouse are a place below Radcliffe Borough, a team Quakers could only draw 1-1 with two weeks ago.

Since then, Amar Purewal’s goalscoring return to the front-line has coincided with a rejuvenation in form as Darlington have climbed to second in the table.

“We’re moving forward,” said manager Martin Gray. “We had a good win on Saturday, another three points and it’s about building momentum now.

“We’re just starting to put a run together, we’ve taken nine points out of nine, now we’ve got to go to Brighouse and be disciplined, be solid and hard to beat.

“Defending starts from the front with our forwards, we’ve done that very well of late. We need the disciplined mentality we showed at Ossett Town last week.”

Like Thompson, David Dowson is also battling to overcome a hamstring issue that has sidelined him for seven league matches, while Terry Galbraith remains unavailable due to a broken toe.

Gray said: “They’re both getting there and this time next week they should both be ready, if not then certainly the week after.

“We need everybody back and challenging, but it should be no more than two weeks.”

Any further injuries would leave Darlington light on numbers and Gray revealed he wants to bolster his thin squad.

“Sixteen players we’ve got. Adam Reed has left us, Nathan Fisher left us last week and Ryan Noble left the week before, so that’s three players that have moved on.

“We’re happy with what we’ve got at the moment, but we’re looking to bring two or three players in. We need strength in depth. Get a few injuries and we’re struggling.”

Reed struggled to make an impact in his short time with Quakers, the midfielder making only four league starts.

The 23-year-old spent the latter half of last season with York City and has also played in the Football League for Brentford, Portsmouth and Burton Albion.

Gray explained: “Adam’s been very unlucky, it hasn’t quite worked out for him due to various reason, such as missing pre-season. He’s a smashing kid and there’s a great footballer in him, you don’t play the number of games he’s played in the Football League without being a very good footballer.

“I just feel he needs to get away and play some football somewhere, and enjoy it.”