ALEX DARLINGTON admits the suspension of the Cymru Premier season came at the wrong time but the striker is looking to hit the ground running when Cefn Druids return to action against Barry Town tomorrow.

Druids made a slow start to the campaign but the strugglers began to pick up under new manager Bruno Lopes, picking up back-to-back wins against Haverfordwest and Flint Town United to move out of the relegation zone in mid-December.

A 4-1 defeat at Barry followed and that was the last action as the campaign was put on hold on December 22 with Wales' coronavirus Alert Level 4.

The season resumed on Tuesday and Newtown's 2-0 win against Penybont took the Robins out of the drop zone, with Druids slipping to 11th place as a reult, but Darlington, who scored his 100th top-flight goal in the last win over Flint, is looking for a quick start in the fight for survival.

"We struggled at the start of the season but the new manager came in and he was trying to get us to play out from the back," said Darlington.

"A lot of the lads were probably not used to that, I probably did it a bit more than the other lads because that's the way we played at TNS.

"We struggled with that at the start but it started to click and the lockdown didn't come at a good time because we had just picked up a couple of wins.

"It was a shame that the season was put on hold but we have just got to try and get going as quick as we can when we are back at it on Saturday."

Darlington added: "We haven't had much time to prepare - none of the teams have really - so it just a case of trying to get back to where we were.

"Pick up a few more wins and give ourselves a good chance of staying up.

"It is going to be tough but we are more than capable of doing it, and hopefully I can score a few more goals."

Tomorrow's visit of Barry is the first of six games for Druids before the league splits, with all teams playing their final match of the first phase on Friday April 2.

The fixtures will come thick and fast but that doesn't bother Darlington.

"We train three nights a week but it is going to be games, games, games, recovering, looking after yourself and staying fit, and not much time to train," said Darlington.

"All the time I have been in the Welsh Premier it has pretty much been just Saturday games and then your time to train.

"It will be something different but it will be good."