Dagenham & Redbridge boss happy McClure and Doidge perform after benching veteran

Dagenham & Redbridge boss Wayne Burnett says it was not an easy decision to leave out Jamie Cureton for the trip to Northampton Town.

The evergreen striker was left on the bench at Sixfields Stadium, where Daggers won 2-1 after coming from behind.

Cureton enjoyed a stellar first season at Victoria Road, winning the Player of the Year award, and Burnett admits it was hard to leave him out for Matt McClure and Christian Doidge.

“Jamie has done wonders for me. He’s a fantastic footballer – I can’t reiterate enough how good a footballer he is,” said Burnett.

“It’s not about his age, I just thought it was the right thing to do to go with Christian and Matt.

“Jamie looks sharp and I spoke to him before the game and said he was a bit unfortunate to be left out.

“It’s a decision I had to make and it’s what I get paid for.”

Thankfully for Burnett, McClure was able to repay the faith in him as he netted both goals in the win, the club’s first against the Cobblers.

It also means the in-form striker now has four goals in his last three games in all competitions as he begins to settle in at Victoria Road.

He also looks to have struck up a good understanding with Doidge and the partnership is beginning to excite the Dagenham manager, who added: “Matt was hurrying the opposition and both he and Christian work incredibly hard.

“They have a real high work ethic. Christian has not found the net apart from against Charlton, but his opportunities will come, he puts in a shift.

“Strangely enough that’s what they get paid to do, work hard!”

The win at Northampton capped a brilliant week for Daggers, who had beaten Cambridge United 2-0 in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on Tuesday thanks to goals from Ashley Hemmings and McClure.

Dagenham were rewarded with a second round trip to Stevenage at the beginning of October and the east Londoners will be confident heading into that match, knowing they should have beaten Boro when they visited Victoria Road last month instead of drawing.

Burnett was happy to have avoided the League One clubs once again, knowing it gives his club a good chance of progressing.

“It doesn’t matter, we have to play whoever it is. We would have liked to have had a home draw, but we’ve played them so we know all about them,” he said.

“They’ve brought some new faces in since we played them, but it’s a winnable game and they’ll feel the same.”