Get the lowdown on the U’s next opponents: Dagenham & Redbridge.

The Opposition

Nicknamed ‘the Daggers’, Dagenham & Redbridge were established just 33 years ago through a merger of Dagenham and Redbridge Forest, and have since risen as high as League One with promotion in 2010.

The East London-based outfit lasted just a year in the third tier though, and were subsequently relegated again in 2016, with the club remaining in non-league ever since, and are now looking to avoid dropping as low as the sixth tier, with a difficult run of late that has seen them slide down the Vanarama National League table.

Indeed, the Daggers come into their trip to Gander Green Lane two points above the drop zone, and are also onto their second manager of the campaign with Lewis Young replacing the outgoing Ben Strevens at the end of 2024. The East Londoners were winless in the league since New Year’s Day – a 2-0 victory over bottom-placed side Ebbsfleet United, but picked up their first win under the former Crawley Town caretaker boss last time out, and will hoping this kick-starts some momentum heading into the last two months of the season.

Furthermore, the club possess plenty of talent amongst their ranks, with top scorers Josh Rees and Dion Pereira certainly the pick of the bunch, while the long-serving Harry Phipps and Sam Ling, along with the likes of Oscar Rutherford, Reece Grego-Cox, Josh Umerah, Ryan Hill and the recently acquired Michael Hector have all shown their capabilities in past seasons, and will surely give Daggers fans hope they have what it takes to get over the line come May.

Recent Form

FC Halifax Town 0-1 Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-3 Tamworth

Barnet 1-0 Dagenham & Redbridge

Aldershot Town 0-0 Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-3 Boston United

Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Oldham Athletic

The Manager

Lewis Young

Former Crawley Town caretaker boss Lewis Young is in his first spell within First Team management, and picked up his first win in permanent charge of the Daggers last time out, having been named Manager at Victoria Road back in January.

A former defender, Young came through the ranks at Watford alongside brother and future England international Ashley, and subsequently turned out for Hereford United, Burton Albion, Forest Green Rovers, Northampton Town, Yeovil Town, Aldershot Town, Bury and Crawley, notably playing over 200 times for the latter.

He announced his retirement from professional football in August 2021 due to recurring injuries, but remained in West Sussex in a coaching capacity, and later became assistant manager of the Red Devils following the departure of Lee Bradbury. This was followed by a brief spell in sole charge of the club following John Yems’ suspension, and was extended after two parties parted ways, before remaining in the coaching staff after the arrival of Kevin Betsy as manager.

Betsy’s dismissal after just four months once again saw Young take interim charge of the Red Devils though, but departed the Broadfield Stadium himself in November 2022 due to the appointment of Matthew Etherington as manager.

After a few months out of the game, Young returned to coaching when he joined Dagenham & Redbridge as a First Team Coach in April 2023, and was later named as Ben Strevens’ replacement after a brief stint as caretaker boss from the end of 2024.

The 35-year old has struggled for form since taking over at Victoria Road, though, overseeing just three wins, two of which coming in the league and the other in the National League Cup, with the Daggers sliding to 19th place in the table ahead of their visit to South London, although Young did pick up his first win in permanent charge on Tuesday night against FC Halifax Town.

One to Watch

Josh Rees

Experienced midfielder Josh Rees has had a superb impact on the Daggers since his arrival in 2023, and is currently the club’s top scorer with 11 goals to his name this season.

Having come through the academy at Arsenal, Rees failed to appear for the Gunners across a 12-year stint at the club, and joined Nottingham Forest following a brief loan spell with Brentford’s development side in 2013. He subsequently spent three years at the City Ground, appearing once, and otherwise spending time on loan at Nuneaton Town and Torquay United.

Following his departure from the East Midlands, Rees dropped into non-league with a move to Braintree Town, and was followed by spells at Chelmsford City and Bromley, scoring 20 goals from midfield for the latter in 55 appearances, as well as featuring in the FA Trophy Final. His form saw him earn a move to the EFL with Gillingham, but he returned to Bromley after just a year with the Gills, and subsequently continued his goalscoring form with further moves to Aldershot Town and Boreham Wood in which he notched 12 and 15 goals respectively.

His time in Hertfordshire was especially successful, playing 82 times for the club – more than for anyone in his career so far – and played every minute in the Wood’s run to the FA Cup Fifth Round, in which they were defeated by Premier League side Everton following a shock victory in the previous round over AFC Bournemouth.

After appearing slightly less prominently in his second season, with 20 starts as opposed to his previous tally of 33, Rees departed Meadow Park after the club lost in the play-off semi-final at the death at the hands of eventual winners Notts County, and moved to fellow National League Dagenham & Redbridge. He has subsequently notched 26 goals for the club, and has enjoyed an impressive 2024/25 campaign with no other Dagger scoring more than the 31-year old.

Last Time We Met

Sutton’s recent bad run continued on a wet and windy night at the Chigwell Construction Stadium as U’s slumped to a third consecutive Vanarama National League defeat and a second by three clear goals.

After a bright start, U’s were rocked back by Josh Rees’s 15th minute goal and after that, apart from a spell in the second half just after Ashley Nadesan and Jayden Harris had been brought on, there was rarely any suggestion that Dagenham & Redbridge would be denied their first win since the opening day of the season.

Hopes that Sutton could recover in the second half receded within four minutes as Hayden Muller was adjudged to have handled as a free kick came in from Frank Vincent on the left, with Dion Pereira putting the resulting penalty high in to the net, before putting the cherry on top when he ran onto Junior Morias’ through ball to put the result beyond doubt with a neat finish beyond Steve Arnold.

Head-to-Head

Dagenham & Redbridge 3-0 Sutton United (10/09/2024)

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Sutton United23/02/2021)

Sutton United 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge (17/11/2020)

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Sutton United (26/12/2020)

Sutton United 0-2 Dagenham & Redbridge (24/09/2019)

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-0 Sutton United (23/02/2019)

Played for Both

Dion Pereira

One of Dagenham’s star men this season, Dion Pereira is in his second stint at Victoria Road having spent the latter half of last season on loan in East London, and before that had spent four months on loan at Gander Green Lane.

A product of the Watford academy, Pereira joined the Hornets at a young age and rose through the ranks at Vicarage Road, making his professional debut for the club under former Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri, coming on as a late substitute in place of Senegal international Mbaye Niang. Pereira played seven minutes in a defeat to Leicester City at the end of the 2016/17 campaign, and finished off the season by being named the club’s Young Player of the Year.

Despite being hotly tipped at Vicarage Road, the forward struggled to break into the First Team under subsequent Head Coaches Marco Silva and Javi Gracia, and departed Hertfordshire in January 2019 in favour of a move to America, joining Atlanta United at the turn of the year. He spent a year in MLS, but returned to England with 18 appearances to his name for Atlanta’s First Team, making the move to his hometown team’s rivals, Luton Town.

He has remained at Kenilworth Road ever since, but has spent the bulk of his five years in Bedfordshire out on loan. Temporary switches to Yeovil Town and Bradford City saw him rack up 29 appearances in all competitions, although the vast majority came with the latter as he featured just once at Huish Park in a stint that received a premature end.

Pereira’s time at Valley Parade proved to be largely successful though, and after his brief spell in Yorkshire came to an end at the closure of the 2022/23 campaign, he remained in League Two with a move to Sutton, making 17 appearances in all competitions for the U’s. However, he featured largely off the bench with just four starts, and saw his season-long loan spell cut short, subsequently joining Dagenham until the end of the season.

His move across London was extended after a successful start to life at Victoria Road, and he made his 50th appearance for the club last week against Tamworth, having begun the campaign in excellent form with seven goals from in first 11 games.

Photo Credit: Paul Loughlin