Such is the situation at the top of the table, a Darlington win at Salford City would be a hammer blow for the second-placed hosts to deal with and it is one which manager Martin Gray wants to administer this afternoon.

Quakers could even lose the eagerly-awaited meeting and remain in a healthy position, though it’s a three-point haul Darlington are after.

Victory against the club who inflicted their last league defeat back in September would put Gray’s side level on points with Salford with five fixtures in hand.

“I’m going down there really positive and looking for a win and a really strong performance,” said Gray, who is missing only Amar Purewal due to injury. “The pressure is certainly on Salford to win.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position and a draw is no good for Salford at all having played five more games than us.”

Darlington’s place in the table comes courtesy of a formidable 16-game undefeated run has seen them win 13, score 37 and concede only seven times.

They are statistics in contrast to Salford who, despite investing heavily last summer, have not taken a stranglehold of the league in the way many expected. They have lost six of their last 16 fixtures and not kept a clean sheet in nine matches.

At the beginning of this month they sacked Phil Power and appointed joint-managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, who left Ramsbottom United, quickly bringing with them the core of the team which defeated Darlington in last season’s play-off semi-final.

There is no grudge though, says Gray, no score to settle, and instead he is full of admiration for Johnson and Morley.

“They’re a very good team and they’re very well managed,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for the lads from Ramsbottom. They proved themselves at Ramsbottom and Salford will get stronger the longer those guys are in charge.

“I can see why Salford brought them in at the time they did, because they started dropping points and I’m sure they will give them the big push that they need.

“There’s no score to settle. I’ve spoken to them many times since the play-off. You’ve got to remain professional, do things right and show a bit of class. They’re good guys, I respect them and it’s going to be our toughest game of the season.”

While Ramsbottom may have finished fifth last season, ten points and three places beneath Darlington, they overcame Quakers in both league meetings last season.

Johnson admits his team needs to win today.

“We played Darlington three times last season, beat them three times, didn’t concede a goal and beat them in the play-offs away from home,” he said, speaking in today's match programme.

“They’re pretty much a similar team [to last year]. I know they signed Nathan Cartman and one or two other players and we speak to Martin Gray.

“We’ll set up to win the game, we’ve got to! If we’re harbouring ambitions to win the league we’ve got to set up to win the game.”

As well as Johnson and Morley plus two coaches, six players have also moved from Ramsbottom, and all featured in last May’s play-off: Grant Spencer, Steven Howson, Dominic Smalley, Scott Burton, Phil Dean and Jordan Hulme.

Johnson added: “The half-dozen we brought in have all won promotion from this league, have got various promotions on their CVs from other levels.

“But not only that, we brought in a few from Rammy because it would be easy to go and sign six players from six different clubs, but then you’ve got to integrate the changing room with players who don’t know each other and don’t know the rest of the Salford lads. When you have this many lads from one club, it makes the transition very easy.”

Gray is, as ever, keeping his cards close to his chest regarding team selection, though Purewal’s absence means Liam Hatch’s reprieve continues.