Darlington'S new assistant manager Ryan Kidd wants to get one thing straight: he is not the son of former Manchester United player Brian Kidd.

It is a myth that followed him throughout his playing career and continues now that he is in management.

There used to be comments from the crowd when I was playing,� he explains.

Things like: You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for your old man'.

But my old man isn't Brian Kidd. My old man knocks out mirrors for a living in Bolton!�

Now that rumour has been put to bed, Kidd is keen to get another message across. It is one that the Darlington squad would do well to heed: impress and do it quickly if you want to be here next season.

It is a stark warning and one that Kidd and manager Simon Davey hope will bring a reaction when they take charge of Quakers for the first time today at Burton Albion.

The game, Darlington's first at the Pirelli Stadium, is quickly followed by Hereford United's visit to The Northern Echo Arena on Monday, and is the first of ten matches left to play this season, which Kidd views as a trial period.

This has happened quickly but we'll learn about the players quickly,� he said. We began taking training on Thursday morning and if we're honest we don't know an awful lot about them but that will change.

They've not got long to impress us, so they can't afford to play too poorly, that's for sure. They've got to create an impression straightaway if they want a contract.

If not and they think they are going to pick up a contract when they've been part of a team relegated from the Football League¦well there's not many clubs that will touch them.�

Davey and Kidd arrive with Darlington 16 points adrift of safety with 30 to play for.

Obviously we would like to have come in at an earlier stage when we would have more games to give us a realistic chance of staying up,�

added Kidd, who was also number two to Davey at Barnsley.

But what we have got is ten games to say to the players if you want to be part of this next year you're going to have to earn your stripes and it starts on Saturday'.

We want to bounce back next year, we wouldn't be here otherwise. This club will be a big fish next year.�

Next year is likely to see Darlington competing in the Blue Square Premier, a far cry from Davey and Kidd's days in the Championship with Barnsley.

The pair became teammates at Preston North End, a club that Manchester-born Kidd served for ten years, making over 250 appearances in defence, with Davey joining from Carlisle in 1995.

Kidd became assistant to Davey at the Lilywhites' Academy and they again became a duo in 2006 at Barnsley, so it is perhaps no surprise that they continue to work together at Darlington.

I've got my own ambitions but I've worked with Simon now for ten years or so and I've known him for 15,� said Kidd, who says he was impressed by chairman Raj Singh's vision for the future.

Simon and I have the same opinions on football, we've got similar styles, I trust him wholeheartedly and I believe in him as a manager.

I know he's going to make a fantastic manager. He's already proven that at Championship level with a very limited budget and I know he's going to be a success here.

Simon's had offers from other clubs, which he turned down. But this offer was different because the chairman was very positive.

If we go down, he wants to push, do everything we can to bounce straight back.

We want to achieve something, of course we do. We had a good time at Barnsley, we had three years there and the average tenure for the previous ten managers at Barnsley was 11 months. So to have three years there we feel we did a damn good job.�

The West Stand at The Northern Echo Arena will be closed for Easter Monday's game against Hereford United, due to ongoing safety works.

Source: Northern Echo