Tom Eastman looking to kick on at Dagenham & Redbridge

New Dagenham & Redbridge signing Tom Eastman is hoping to ‘kick on’ after joining the National League club on a two-year deal.

The 31-year-old defender is the third new signing of the summer for boss Ben Strevens, following in the footsteps of Josh Rees and Ryan Hill.

And the experienced centre-back, who made 464 appearances during 12 seasons at Colchester United – winning four player of the year awards – is excited by his new challenge.

“I feel like this is a good move for me and hopefully I can kick on from here, me personally and as a club and we can have a good season,” he told the club website.

“I’ve played a lot of games throughout my career, and I would like to keep that going.”

Strevens added: said: “We’re delighted that Tom’s decided to join us here at Dagenham, he had interest from Football League and other National League clubs as well.

“He’ll add fantastic experience into the group with what he’s done at Colchester, and he was a terrific player for them.

“Everyone we’ve spoken to regarding him has given us a glowing reference and we can’t wait to welcome him with us in pre-season.

“He’s obviously a really nice guy, I’ve spoke to him numerous times now which is great.

“On the football pitch he’s told me he wants to make sure that we’re going to be a really tough team to beat.”

Daggers, having seen Sam Ling and Elliot Justham sign contract extensions, will learn their National League fixtures for 2023-24 on Wednesday (1pm) and begin the campaign on August 5.

They play their first pre-season friendly at Aveley on July 8, having seen Mo Sagaf, George Saunders, Angelo Balanta and first-team coach Dave Jupp all leave the ranks in the past few weeks.