Darlington Under 18s manager Anth Verity says that Quakers will be going into Monday night’s FA Youth Cup tie against Shildon in a positive frame of mind.

The lads are doing well in the Durham County Youth League this season, and they were boosted by a 4-0 home win over Swalwell at the weekend.

“We’ve had a really positive week coming into the game,” he said.

“We represented the first team last Tuesday at Whickham in the Durham Challenge Cup, and even though we lost, it was a really good performance from the lads against a team that was older and stronger than them.

“Then on Saturday, we built on the Whickham game and beat Swalwell, so we’re ready to come to come out fighting and play to the best of our ability.”

Of the league season so far, the lads have won and drawn two of their league games so far. “The lads have done really well so far, one of the defeats could easily have been a win because we played well in that game. They’re learning all the time, they’ve started to understand the game now as men, and not as boys.”

Anth picks out forwards Jamie O’Brien and Luke Jenkinson as the players most likely to cause Shildon problems. “Jamie causes nightmare for defenders, while Luke doesn’t stop running.”

The game at Dean Street kicks off at 7pm.