Hawks face two big National League South games in four days – starting with top-of-the-table Westleigh Park clash with Dartford

Paul Doswell’s second-placed side host third-placed Dartford at Westleigh Park on Wednesday before travelling to fifth-placed St Albans on Saturday.

St Albans have jumped into the play-off places after a run of five wins in seven matches and boast the division’s leading scorer, 17-goal Shaun Jeffers.

Before that, though, Hawks will be aiming to complete their first-ever league double over the Darts.

While all NSL matches are big - with a view to the club’s dream of a return to the National League - some are bigger than other. A home clash with Dartford very much falls into that category.

‘That’s a good way of putting it,’ Doswell told The News. ‘If we can win we’ll be four points clear of Dartford with two games in hand.

‘If we can’t win the league, we’d want to finish second - that way you’re at home for both the play-off semi and the final.

‘It’s an important game for both clubs. It’s a big week, there’s no getting away from it.’

As is usual, Hawks have watched videos of Dartford’s last two league games, a 1-0 loss at Chelmsford and a 0-0 home stalemate with Bath.

Doswell said: ‘We always do this. I’ll watch the games, Bairdy (assistant manager Ian Baird) and (performance analyst) Scott Munro will do the same. We’ll watch them independently on a Sunday and then go round Scott’s on a Monday and talk about what we’ve seen together.’

Dartford were perennially one of the top clubs in the NLS under previous boss Steve King, and they remain so under Alan Dowson.

Dowson, who guided Woking to promotion via the NLS play-offs in 2018/19, was appointed Darts boss last May.

‘Dartford are a good club, I have always liked them as a club,’ said Doswell. ‘They’ve got a good fanbase and they’re competitive every year.

‘Steve King liked a passing style, he played with out-and-out wingers, but Dows has a different style that still works very well.’

Sam Magri is out of Dartford’s visit after taking a kick on the ankle after coming on as a sub in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Slough.

Striker Jason Prior - who scored in August’s 2-1 win at Princes Park - ‘might’ be available.

‘My big hope is that Jason Prior can have a run of 20 games,’ said Doswell. ‘He’s such an important and integral part of what we want to do. We’ve only had him for about seven or eight games.’

Hawks’ first half of the season form has seen them hoover up 46 points from 21 matches. In contrast, Darlington are top of the National League North with two fewer points from two more fixtures.

‘We’ve got 46 points from 21 games and aren’t top, that’s unheard of,’ Doswell declared. ‘It shows the strength of the South division that ourselves and Dartford are right behind Ebbsfleet.

‘We’ve only lost three games in half a season, you’d snap someone’s hand off for that.’

All of those losses were at Westleigh Park, with Hawks one of only two clubs in the top seven tiers of English football - Ebbsfleet are the other one - still unbeaten away in league action.

Hawks have scored 24 away goals, the second highest total in the top six tiers - only National League table-toppers Notts County (with 37) have netted more times.

‘I didn’t know that,’ said Doswell. ‘The irony is that we’re more open and attacking at home. But away from home, we can be ruthless on the counter.’

There could be a familiar face in the visiting team on Wednesday as striker Alex Wall joined Dartford in the summer after being released by Hawks.

Wall has only netted three times in league action in 2022/23, and came off the bench in last Saturday’s draw with Bath. That came after hitting a hat-trick in a friendly against Margate.

Attacking midfielder Tomas Kalinauskas, meanwhile, has left Hawks and returned to parent club Barnsley. Currently injured, his loan spell was due to finish at the end of this month.

He is unlikely to return to Westleigh Park once fit, with the chance of a permanent move elsewhere on the cards.