Steve Watson challenges Darlington to show right mentality at South Shields

Steve Watson has urged Darlington to show the right mentality when they look to derail South Shields’ National League North title bid with a win at the 1st Cloud Arena on Monday.

The Quakers claimed a narrow win over the Mariners last season and they will hope to replicate that triumph on South Tyneside to bounce back from Friday’s late defeat at Scarborough Athletic and boost their own promotion hopes. Watson’s side are sitting in the sixth and final play-off spot ahead of Monday’s meeting with South Shields - and the Quakers boss insisted they can secure what would be a notable win as the final weeks of the season rapidly approach.

Speaking after the Good Friday defeat, the former Newcastle United star told the Quakers club website: “Football is about the next game. It’s not a tactical thing today, it’s not a shape thing, it’s individuals making mistakes at the most crucial of times. That’s not going to help us win on Monday now. We have to puff our chests out again. South Shields are a fantastic side, we know that, but they are beatable, as every team in this league is. We have to go there and have a right go because we need to win games now, we need to win games now and the mentality on Monday has to be that we go to their place and win, which we have done before.”

The Quakers have confirmed they will be without goalkeeper Rory Watson for the meeting with the Mariners as he will be under concussion protocols after he suffered a nasty looking injury against Scarborough.

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