By Martin Walker

Mark Cooper says he has already had a positive reaction out of his players in training this week.

The Quakers boss forced his players to sit through a DVD of Tuesday's defeat against Grimsby.

But he says they have responded positively on the training pitch, and hopes to see an improvement on the pitch against Gateshead today.

Cooper said: "We've had a good reaction in training which is all very well but its not until 3pm on Saturday we find out what their response is. Hopefully it'll be a good one.

"We watched the game back on Thursday, the players all watched it. Watching the game back, it wasn't as bad as we thought it was on Tuesday, but it still wasn't acceptable.

"The one thing with watching a video of the game is that there's no hiding place. It's there in front of them and they can't disagree with anything you say.

"So they were very quiet because they know the performance wasn't acceptable and hopefully tomorrow well see the true Darlington team."

Cooper is not expecting an easy game this afternoon, either.

"Gateshead are a different proposition now," he said. "They've turned full-time and have got a lot of new players.

"They haven't had a great start, either, but I'm sure they're relishing coming to the Arena like very team does which is another problem we have to overcome.

"I could understand the anxiousness late on in a game if the players were hanging on to a lead because in our ground you can hear every last comment and boo from the stands.

"But at the start of a game you have to give the supporters something to shout about."