Dagenham & Redbridge manager Daryl McMahon knows they’re in for a tough tie when they make the trip to Sutton United.
Daggers will make the trip to Gander Green Lane on Saturday for a last 32 FA Trophy clash against Matt Gray’s men who currently sit third in the National League.
The boss knows exactly what threats their opponents pose but believes they’re a very different side since they encountered each other in the league back in November.
“They’ve got a lot of pace in their team, they’re direct, they get forward quickly and get in behind you. They cross a lot of balls into the box and they’re very well organised and they play their pitch really well.
“They’re having a terrific season to be fair to them, I think Matty Gray has done a terrific job there.
“When we played them last time, first-half they were miles better than us, second-half we started miles better than them and we scored, I felt we were growing into the game and go onto to win it, but then we had a player sent off and we got a 1-1 draw.
“We’re probably a bit of a different outfit now than we were then in terms of confidence, fitness of players etc.”
McMahon is a big believer of creating a winning mentality therefore he believes in good cup runs rather than playing a weakened side.
“The last 32 games we’ve got to play in the league do you mean,” he laughed. “We’re in a good position, there is a lot of teams in the cup competition from our division playing against each other, so people are going to knocked out.
“We can only concentrate on ourselves, we know going away to Sutton is never an easy game, and we fully respect them so we focus on that game first.
“It’s important to just be winning, it becomes a habit, you get the feel of that whistle going at 5pm, you’ve played well and you’ve won. It’s like a drug that you want to have every Saturday and every Tuesday.”
The former Ebbsfleet United boss knows however it has not been ideal preparation after enduring a two-week isolation period at the club due to some staff members testing positive for Covid-19.
“It’s definitely been a longer lay-off than we would have liked but I've said this many times, this season every team has got to be adaptable to the situation, it’s a freak year and a horrendous year in terms of what is happening health wise to people.
“Football teams have got to be really adaptable to the situations thrown at them and we have to continue to do that.”
He added: “It’s not been easy, but I think the most important thing is that people are healthy and safe, we’re hopefully through that period now. We’re still without some bodies but we’re back training and hopefully we can pick up where we left off.”
“It will be a very tough game, but I'm sure we’ll give Sutton a tough game as well.”
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