Dagenham & Redbridge have work to do says Ben Strevens

Daggers fell to a 1-0 friendly defeat at Isthmian League Premier Division side Hornchurch at the weekend before a behind-closed-doors match at Wycombe in midweek.

And they now face a run of three home games against West Ham United on Saturday, Leyton Orient on Tuesday (July 25) and Gillingham (July 29) as they look to finalise their preparations for their August 5 start at Altrincham.

“The thing of it is knowing certain areas we need to get better at. It’s how we get better at it, how we do it,” Strevens told the club website.

“That’s got to be working hard in training, still finding moments when we can switch play and go the other way.

“These things are here for us to work on and we’ve got to get it right quickly because before we know it, it’s the first game of the season. 

“We know that as coaching staff, we know we’ve got bits to work on, but we expected to at this stage as well.”

Former Dagger George Saunders netted the only goal of the game at Bridge Avenue, while Myles Weston went closest for the visitors as he hit a post in the second half.

“We knew this would be a tough one today,” added Strevens. 

“When we played Aveley [a 3-0 win] they were a little bit behind us, so it was a good start, but I thought that [against Hornchurch] was a good workout for the boys.

“I think they’re going to be really strong Hornchurch in their league next year. They’ve signed a lot of boys that we know from being in the league or National South, so it’s building into it.

“When you’re having a spell when you’re on top, how we make sure we stay on top in terms of locking the opponent in their half, making sure we don’t get done by that goal like we did, it felt like a bit of a sucker punch at the time.

“I was looking at my watch and we were keeping them in there and we’ve been quite big on that, how we lock teams in, so that was obviously something for us to work on.”

Inih Effiong and Sydney Ibie formed an intimidating front pairing in the first half, with Aaron Blair coming off the bench in the second period.

And former striker Strevens recognised his side is a work in progress, adding: “I said to the forwards we’ve got to get better at our link play, as in going into one of them and next man’s run, we’ve really got to work on that.

“The partnership is developing at the moment, but Syd is learning the role, Inih up there is the senior one with him and Aaron coming onto it, so we know we’ve got to help them with that. 

“Westy played up there first part of pre-season as well but we wanted to see him back on the left and I thought he was really positive when he came on second half in that position. The way he drives at people and commits people.

“We go to Wycombe where everyone gets 60 minutes, then building into West Ham which is a fantastic game, more a game for everyone at the club.

“By the time we get to Orient and Gillingham I really want to see us as a team, on the things we’re working on with them, without the football, that’s where we’re really building to, to get ready for that first game of the season.”