FOR the first time in 15 months Darlington have lost back-to-back league games, and the double defeats have been enough to force a frustrated Martin Gray into making changes today.

Quakers’ manager knows his team is under pressure and can ill afford another slip at Heritage Park having lost at Kendal a week ago and then at Farsley on Tuesday.

Eight of Darlington’s 13 remaining fixture are against teams residing in the top half of the table, including today’s opposition Bamber Bridge, so Gray knows his team must return to winning ways quickly.

His starting XI, however, will differ from that named in West Yorkshire on Tuesday.

“There’ll be changes made this weekend, that’s for sure,” said the manager. “I said to the players before the game on Tuesday, some players need to perform and if you don’t then I will make changes.

“I will make changes for Saturday and I will play who I think is the strongest XI to win that game, because we need to get back to winning ways.

“The players will be told on Saturday when we meet pre-match. We’re going to change things around a little bit.

“We’ve only lost two games, there’s no need to panic. There’ll be one or two shocks, but that’s football isn’t it. A manager lives and dies by his decisions and that’s what he is paid for.

“It’ll be a shock to one or two of them, but that’s the business we work in, but if it gets the right reaction then it will have worked.

“It’s not about those coming into the team or those getting left out, it’s about the squad. We’ve got what we’ve got, we’re in a great position and there’s no need to panic at all. We need to get back to what we’re about.”

While revealing he will make changes to his starting XI, Gray maintains his belief that the midweek performance in a 3-2 loss was satisfactory.

It is not a view shared by some supporters that were present on Tuesday, when Quakers trailed 2-0 at the break before pulling level thanks to Nathan Cartman and Terry Galbraith, only to see Farsley add a third midway through the second half.

“I always try to give an honest assessment and I still think the same,” said Gray. “The first one was a freak goal because the keeper saved it but it hit a defender and went in.

“The second was a fantastic goal and they had one shot in the second half and it was a great free-kick.

“I don’t think they dominated the play anymore than we did in the first half, and it was us that dominated in the second half.

“They’re decent team, they’re well-organised, they’ve lost once here this year, but at 2-2 I thought we were going to go on and win the game. They had one shot in the second half.

“If we’d lost 3-2 to and scored two scrappy goals you’d say the performance over 90 minutes was not good enough, but over the 90 minutes I thought we were the better team.”

Recent results have handed the initiative to promotion rivals Salford City, who may have played two games more, but it can be said that the Greater Manchester club’s remaining fixtures suggest an easier run-in than Quakers’ demanding schedule as they will face only three teams in the current top half of the table.

“I’ve said to the players that we’re in a great position and it’s still in our hands,” added Gray.

“If we win all of our games we go three points ahead. The pressure is on a bit more, but that’s the game we’re in.

“If we weren’t involved in the run-in then we wouldn’t be doing our job right, but we’re right in the mix and we’re looking forward to our remaining games.”