Strevens: Dagenham & Redbridge need to stand up to Boreham Wood

Daggers head to Meadow Park on the back of a disappointing 2-0 home defeat against Dorking Wanderers last weekend, sitting nine points off the top seven in 12th place.

Wood, meanwhile, are in sixth place, with a four-point cushion over Bromley in eighth and Strevens knows what to expect in the 5pm kick-off in front of the live cameras.

“They will be a really tough test, a different type of test to Dorking and Gateshead in the way they play but one we’re going to have to stand up to and try to implement the things we want to see,” he told the club website.

“It will be a hard game but one I’m looking forward to. Hopefully being on BT as well, it’s the type of games players want to be involved in.

Competitive

“They are what they have been for the last four or five years, incredibly competitive, play a front-foot type of football and you have to stand up against it and be preapared for it because if you’re not, they win games of football.

“That’s what they’ve done consistently now for a number of years. Always recruit really well, finding new players that come in and improve and impress. 

“Some move on to bigger and better things, but he [Luke Garrard] has a collective group of players that he trusts and knows what they can bring to him.

“You look across the back line and the goalkeeper have been with him a while now. They’ve got Payney [Jack Payne] in holding midfield who played for me at Eastleigh, I know the type of player he is and the professional he is.”

Daggers return to Victoria Road to host Chesterfield on Bank Holiday Monday, while Wood visit Bromley.

And Strevens acknowledged how key the weekend is with regards to deciding certain issues.

“If you’re in that play-off picture, you’re going to want to get a couple of back-to-back victories and if a team like Boreham Wood does that it’s really going to strengthen their position,” he added.

“It might not cement it but it will put them in a real good place to be in that play-off mix come the end of the season.

Tough

“I’ve played against Luke’s teams towards the end of the season when they’re not trying to get into those play-off places and they were a tough test then.

“They bring, every single game they play, whether they’re chasing the play-offs or they’re in there or mid-table, wherever they’ll be, they’re always the same: high energy, high intensity, very defensively organised, really tough opponent.

“You know exactly what you’re getting from them each game. We expect it will be a tough test but I think they bring that every time they play.”

Strevens wants to see a more rounded performance from his own side, following the frustrations experienced against Dorking.

They had chances to get their noses in front in the first half, then fell behind midway through the second period, before conceding a second late on.

Intensity

“The first half, everything I was asking of the players, the intensity I wanted them to show, the pressing and the energy they showed as a group was really good,” added Strevens.

“We had a couple of really strong chances I expect the boys to take. I was hoping we were going to kick on in the second half and to be fair to Dorking, they tried to play a bit less from the back and went a bit more direct that caused us different problems.

“We gave a couple of really bad goals and I think that knocked the stuffing and confidence out of the players and the energy levels clearly dropped.

“If I want to play a certain way, the intensity how I want them to play, then training has got to up as well. People have got to show me they can do that intensity what I’m asking for 90 minutes, it’s no good seeing it for 45 minutes, then not for the next 45.

“I understand it, I’m asking them to do something different to before but moving forward that’s how I want it to be, I want to show real front-foot togetherness, pressing all together across the pitch.

“I think that’s what the fans are going to want to see as well.”

Daggers saw Sydney Ibie limp off before the hour against Dorking, but Strevens had a positive update on the big striker, as well as experienced goalkeeper Elliot Justham – who has not played under the new boss – and defender Elliott Johnson, who has missed the last two matches.

“I thought he [Ibie] had pulled his hamstring. But it looks like it was just cramp,” he said. 

Good news

“The intensity I asked him to play with, the first 45 minutes, it was his first start and the nervous energy he would’ve had before the game, meant he had a bit of a cramping sensation in his hamstring going down to his calf, so that was good news.

“I didn’t expect to see him this week, but he has been back out, in and around the group, not able to do full training but he is out there, which is a real plus.

“Elliot Justham is coming on really well, really pleased with the progress we’ve seen. Not surprised by it.

“From the moment he got injured and the first or second day I was with him, seeing how hard he has worked in the gym and the way he is as a professional, I can see why he has been one of the top goalies in the league.

Positive

“He wasn’t saying ‘that’s my season done’. He was straight in the gym, saying ‘I want to be back as soon as possible’. He’s looking really positive, which is pleasing to see,

“Johnno, his missus is pregnant and we thought she was going into labour and we’re just going to have to take that day by day with him.

“Anyone that has gone through those sort of things, you want it to just happen, sometimes it takes a bit of time. We’re taking it day by day.

“He was in training [on Wednesday] which was really pleasing to see. He wants to be back in and around it but also aware that at any moment he could get the phonecall or having to leave us again.

“Hopefully for him and his wife the baby comes as soon as possible and then we know what we’re doing moving forward as well.”