FC Halifax Town v Dagenham and Redbridge preview

Halifax boss Billy Heath is wary about how Dagenham and Redbridge will react after their 5-0 defeat at home to Gateshead when they travel to The Shay for their FA Cup first round replay on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Nov 2016, 15:16 BST
Updated 16th Nov 2016, 15:58 BST
Jordan Sinnott in action for Halifax in their 0-0 draw at Dagenham and Redbridge in the FA Cup. Picture: Kelly GilchristJordan Sinnott in action for Halifax in their 0-0 draw at Dagenham and Redbridge in the FA Cup. Picture: Kelly Gilchrist
Jordan Sinnott in action for Halifax in their 0-0 draw at Dagenham and Redbridge in the FA Cup. Picture: Kelly Gilchrist

Dagenham will fight it out with The Shaymen to decide who travels to either Eastleigh or Swindon in round two, but while the Londoners go into the game on the back of that 5-0 thrashing, Town will be full of confidence after beating Kidderminster 2-0 on Saturday.

Heath isn’t sure what impact the Gateshead result will have on The Daggers, but admits there could be a backlash.

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“I think it’d be more positive than negative - I don’t know though, because it depends how they look at it,” Heath said.

“I don’t care what team you are, when you get beaten 5-0 your confidence is going to take a knock.

“On the flip side, I’m sure John Still will be coming out all guns blazing and trying to make sure they put it right as quickly as possible.

“It’s a double-edged sword.

“We’ve just got to keep playing how we have been.

“There were things I was pleased about on Saturday, and things I wasn’t so pleased about.”

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Heath was impressed by Dagenham in the first game between the sides, which ended 0-0.

“I thought they were a very good team,” he added.

“The lad up front (Ollie Hawkins) and their two wide players were very good, very quick, very direct.

“It’ll be a tough game.

“They’ll want to bounce back quickly but we’ve had a good result on Saturday, it was an important game to win.”

Town have only one defeat in their last 10 games, winning eight (excluding the West Riding County Cup).

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Josh Macdonald is a doubt after limping off with a toe injury on Saturday, with Matty Kosylo set to replace him if Macdonald is not fit.

Danny Hone is not expected to be fit enough to feature in the game.

Dagenham’s defeat on Saturday was their heaviest loss since losing 5-0 at home to Cheltenham in February 2012.

They have now gone more than three hours without scoring and have won just once in their last five games.

Related topics:DagenhamGatesheadFC Halifax TownHalifaxDagenham and RedbridgeRedbridge