Town’s new rivals Dagenham and Redbridge ready to compete in League I

Jun 2 2010 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DAGENHAM and Redbridge captain Mark Arber has backed his side to make the grade in League I next season.

The Daggers, who were playing non-league football only three years ago, beat Rotherham 3-2 in an enthralling League II play-off final to earn their place in the third tier and set up encounters against the likes of Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Southampton next term.

It is a meteoric rise for the small East London club, whose average gate is just over 2,000.

But Arber has risen through the leagues with the Daggers and firmly believes they can hold their own next season – even though they suffered a 6-1 setback in their FA Cup first-round clash with Town at the Galpharm this season..

“It’s the biggest level this club has ever played at in its history,” said Arber.

“But I’m sure we’ll be strong. People won’t like coming to play us next year, it’s a tight ground (Victoria Road, with a capacity of 6,000) and we play at a high tempo.

“People won’t look at Dagenham and think ‘that’s an easy game’. We give teams a tough time.

“We are going in the right direction. Hopefully we can sustain it next season. It’s fantastic for this football club and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.”

Veteran goalkeeper Tony Roberts, who is now 40 and played for QPR in the Premier League more than a decade ago, was keen to praise manager John Still for masterminding Dagenham’s quick rise through the leagues.

“You can only applaud the man. He has brought the players in and we have done the business,” said Roberts.

“There’s a lot of teams who would be envious of us.