Two draws away to Lancaster City, 0-0, and Warrington Town, 1-1, ended the Quakers title chances this week.  Salford City won at Burscough, 2-1 on Saturday and following our draw at Warrington on Tuesday night, were confirmed as champions. They are four points ahead of us with just one game each left.

It means for the second season in a row, we will finish second in the league and if we are to achieve promotion we will have to do it via the playoffs. We will host Spennymoor on Wednesday with the winners going on to take on either Northwich Victoria or Bamber Bridge for a place alongside Salford in the Evo-Stik Premier next season.

Following results this week the game with New Mills will now not be an all ticket game. It is unclear if Martin Gray will rest players ahead of the crunch game with Spennymoor, however, he did choose to do so on the final day 12 months ago.

Mark Bell may be given a rare start, as first choice goalkeeper Peter Jameson will be unavailable due to suspension if the Quakers make the play-off final.

Gray said, “I’ll have a look at it between now and Saturday and decide what the right thing is to do. I’ll speak to players, I’ll speak to staff and I’ll make that decision by Saturday.

“We’re in good form, we’ve won six and drawn two, performances have been good. But Saturday is a nothing game and I can’t afford any players to get injured or cause any problems for Wednesday.”

The sides met in March, when New Mills took a shock lead, before Darlington turned the game around to comfortably win 5-1. They have struggled all season near the bottom of the league table and recently their relegation was confirmed.  New Mills have only been able to win six games all season in the league, they will finish second bottom with only Padiham below them.