By Martin Walker

Mark Cooper is demanding better from his players tomorrow, telling them to "roll their sleeves up and go after Gateshead".

The Darlington manager is still sickened by Tuesday's disappointing defeat against Grimsby.

But he's hoping that's well and truly behind them as the Quakers prepare to welcome their Conference neighbours tomorrow.

"We learned an awful lot the other night," said Cooper. "People have told me about the problems of playing at home, and the pressures that the players feel under, but I don't buy into that.

"You don't have to be the greatest player in the world. But if you give 100% every game and roll your sleeves up, people will forgive mistakes every now and again.

"Hopefully tomorrow we'll see a team that wants to wear the shirt with a bit of pride and is prepared to run about and give everything to the cause.

"We've not played brilliant in our first four games but we've got five points and we've drawn a line under it now and I want to see a real rip-roaring performance tomorrow, roll our sleeves up and really get after Gateshead.

"There's no easy game. You look at results the other night and again, teams you expect to win don't, and that happens every Saturday in the Conference, because if you're not mentally right and tuned in you'll get beat.

"Teams coming to our place want to play. It's a fantastic stadium, a fantastic pitch and they rise to it, but that's a problem we have to deal with it.

"I can fans' frustration if the team, like the other night, aren't there. We need to give them something to go, I understand that, but we're all in it together. Let's stick with it and we'll be fine."

Cooper's pre-match interview will be available on Quakers Player later today.