McMahon: Balanta has been a big miss for Dagenham & Redbridge

Balanta made his first appearance of the season as a 74th-minute replacement for Manny Onariase, having recovered from an injury sustained in the summer.

And although the Colombian-born attacker could not prevent Daggers falling to a 1-0 loss at Grosvenor Vale, manager McMahon sung his praises.

“He gives you so much quality, he puts his foot on the ball, sees pictures, sees passes, controls the tempo of the game for us, can speed it up, can slow it down,” McMahon told the club website.

“He does things that noone at the level can do to be honest. He’s been a big, big miss for us this season because we know he is our special player.

“I thought he was excellent when he came on. I thought [Omar] Mussa was as well to be fair. 

“I thought Mussa had courage, got on the ball and made us play, had shots, ran forward, did things we needed him to do.

“We need players to have courage when they play for us, to get on the ball and play and express yourself, that’s what we’re good at.”

Daggers fell behind after just five minutes but had plenty of chances to get back on terms as they slipped to 11th in the National League table ahead of a long trip to Oldham in midweek.

They are due to host Solihull Moors at Victoria Road on Saturday and welcome Eastleigh on Tuesday, with McMahon seeking an improvement at both ends of the pitch.

“It didn’t go for us today but I can’t criticise the players’ work ethic and endeavour,” he added. “We’ve just got to be better in both boxes.

“Their keeper is man of the match and it sums it up. We still should score.

“There’s two or three chances, or more than that, we should’ve scored anyway. Particularly in the first half.

“At half-time in terms of the rest of the squad it was just about being positive and doing what we do, dominate the ball, you will create chances, then take them.

“And we did create chances, but we didn’t take them. It’s frustrating and disappointing, but we have to go again.”