Darlington winger Arran Wearmouth says that he is gutted at missing the start of Quakers’ season.

Arran moved from Blyth to Quakers at the end of last season, but what he thought was a niggling knee injury was in fact something much more serious. He has now had an operation on his cruciate ligament, and will miss the opening months of the season.

“I didn’t realise that the injury was as bad as it was until Martin told me after I’d been for a scan,” he said.

“Near the end of the season at Blyth, I thought I’d nipped the cartilage in my knee and there was a slight tear. I didn’t think any more of it, and the injury coincided with the end of the season.

“I went out running, and there were no problems, but then I played five-aside, and was forced to stop.

“I told Martin, and he sent me for a scan to check. I thought the scan would have shown a tear in my cartilage as a worst case scenario, so for Martin to tell me that it was a cruciate injury was completely unexpected.  It wasn’t even the last thing I was expecting.

“I’ve never had an injury like this before – I’ve broken my collar bone three times and only been out for a few weeks afterwards.”

Arran must now sit at the back of the stand for Vanarama National League North matches for the time being, and he said; “I hate not being involved. Being injured is more frustrating than being sat on the bench, because when you’re sat on the bench, you still have the chance to influence a game.”