By Tony Alvarez
Following Saturdays somewhat embarrassing loss at the hands of Cheltenham Town, Dagenham and Redbridge sit bottom of League Two and look in real danger of dropping out of the Football League.
The Daggers are three points off safety albeit with a game in hand however with their inferior goal difference largely due to Saturdays defeat the gap more resembles four points than three.
Some may think me calling the defeat embarrassing is harsh it was a side in the top three against a side in the bottom three some may even say it was expected, however the Daggers were at home and should be fighting for their lives not only in the Football League but the players should be fighting for a new contract or their move in the Summer. A team in this situation should never be turned over the way the Daggers were on Saturday.
The Daggers now have 16 games to save themselves, it’s very achievable there not completely off the pace and if a run of results is put together then they can steer clear. However the change in fortune has to start immediately. None of the remaining 16 games will be as important as the fixture coming up this Saturday against fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle.
Argyle were at rock bottom earlier in the campaign and never going out of existence due to financial problems however they have found some form which has taken them up to 21st place on 27 points.
In the last 10 they have only lost three with some of the fixtures coming against the divisions top sides.
In contrast to this Dagenham are struggling badly, not only are they rock bottom they are low on confidence and in a poor vain of form picking up four points from the last available 21.
Another problem facing Dagenham is that some of the teams around them have found some form and are picking up points, Northampton have won their last two and Plymouth have already been mentioned.
There is of course still hope for Dagenham there are other sides such asHerefordwho are performing equally as bad if not worse than Dagenham. On top of that they are not bottom of the form table; although Macclesfield are currently six points better off than the Daggers they have played a game more and have remarkably lost their last 8 league fixtures. So there is still hope but a defeat on Saturday could see the end of what little confidence there is in the camp.
From what I have seen of Dagenham I do not think they have enough to stay up, I hope they do as I want as many teams as possible that are in and around London in the Football Leagues but I just have seen the level of performance to suggest they can keep their heads above water.
What are your thoughts? Is Saturdays fixture against Plymouth make or break? Can the Daggers survive? Who will go down?
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