MATCH PREVIEW: Dagenham & Redbridge (H)

Dagenham & Redbridge visit Aldershot on Tuesday night in a crucial encounter between two sides hoping to further ease themselves from the National League’s bottom-end.

The Daggers will make the 51-mile trip from East London. Having also been founded in their current iteration in 1992, this fixture has taken place in 19 of each club’s 33 seasons of existence. With meetings spanning from the Isthmian League all the way to League Two, the pair are unsurprisingly each other’s most frequent opponents in that regard.

Dagred, as they are occasionally abbreviated, will come into the tie in 19th position, one point and one place behind the Shots, who managed to leapfrog their rivals following last Tuesday’s win against Solihull Moors.

RECENT FORM

It has been a difficult period for the Daggers, with a winless February threatening to carry on into springtime.

01/03/25 – Dag & Red 1-3 Boston United
22/02/25 – Dag & Red 2-2 Oldham Athletic
19/02/25 – Eastleigh 3-0 Dag & Red
15/02/25 – AFC Fylde 1-1 Dag & Red
11/02/25 – Dag & Red 1-2 Woking

There will be small solace for the visitors, however, in the fact that they are one of very few sides whose best results this calendar year have come away from home, with five points out seven coming on the road in 2025.

IN THE DUGOUT

At just 35-years-old, aptly named Lewis Young is the joint-youngest head-coach in the National League at present, alongside Ebbsfleet’s Josh Wright. Initially joining the Daggers as first team coach in April 2023, he stepped in as caretaker manager following the Boxing Day departure of Ben Strevens. An impressive four points on the road against Ebbsfleet and Forest Green in his opening two matches prompted Young to be given the role on a permanent basis on January 16th, though the New Year’s Day win at Stonebridge Road remains his only league victory to date.

Young is the little brother of namesake Ashley, who despite being four years his senior is still very much playing. Growing up in Stevenage, he continued the family trend of graduating through Watford’s academy, where he stayed until age 20.

Something of a journeyman in his younger years, his final and most significant stint as a player came in West Sussex, making over 200 EFL appearances for Crawley town between 2014 and 2020. He was latterly a coach for the Red Devils, where he would get his first taste of first-team management, again as caretaker.

While it will be his first time leading the away dugout in this fixture, Young is no stranger to the EBB Stadium, having a brief stint at the Shots in 2013. Winless in nine coming into the tie, rest assured the Daggers gaffer will be putting his short history with the club to one side on Tuesday night, in search of a much needed three points.

LAST TIME OUT

The Londoners were victorious in the reverse fixture, winning 3-2 in late November at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

The game didn’t pan out quite as close as the scoreline suggests as ten-man Shots found themselves three goals down by the 77th minute, including a strike from Luca Woodhouse, who has of course swapped allegiances since. Late goals from Dejan Tetek and Jack Barham almost completed the unlikeliest of comebacks, but it wasn’t enough on the night.

Last season’s meeting at the EBB saw Kwame Thomas net a late winner in a 3-2 victory in September 2023. With 16 goals shared across the last three meetings, it may be reasonable to expect plenty of action in this one, too.

FORMER SHOTS

Josh Rees – The forward-thinking midfielder is the club’s top scorer this season with 13 goals in all competitions, which is the same amount of goals he scored during a solitary season at the EBB in 2020-21. While COVID restrictions meant the East Bank didn’t get to see as much as they’d have liked of him, they’ll hope his days of scoring in front of them are over.

TICKET INFO

Tickets are available HERE, and are priced as follows after the earlybird period has ended: