It has been off the pitch issues that have taken the limelight at the club this week, with Yoan Zouma now suspended, but there is still a huge game on the pitch at Victoria Road this weekend.

A win will see the Daggers progress to the quarter-finals of the Buildbase FA Trophy, a stage they haven’t been at for some time.

However, it’s National League North Spennymoor that stand in the way, looking to condemn Daryl McMahon’s men to their third straight defeat in all competitions.

The latest defeat saw Dagenham lose 2-1 in Chesterfield, the high-flyers not letting up, but unfortunately gifted two goals from the penalty spot.

Frustratingly, this was all despite us travelling supporters being delighted by witnessing our side go in front through Josh Walker.

It is this opening phase that saw us go toe-to-toe with the title challengers, but once again we were unable to play consistently well for 90 minutes.

It is after 90 minutes where it all ended in defeat, a long trip back from Derbyshire - we left empty-handed.

This has prompted some among the fanbase to once again bring into question McMahon’s ability and effectively rule out Dagenham’s hopes of play-offs.

I’d like to first get some perspective. We’re in 10th place, four points off the play-offs (the top seven is our aim for the season). Granted others have games in hand, with 17 matches left to play. Moreover, we remain in the FA Trophy just a few wins from Wembley.

What I’d take from all this is a real progression from last season (McMahon’s first full season in charge) where at this stage we were 16th, eight points off the play-offs, with others having games in hand.

Thus, cementing my view that McMahon is the right man for the job and that everything is still very much to play for - 17 league games left to play.

One man aiming to help the Daggers achieve this is a new signing announced last Saturday - Brandon Comley.

Some were saying we needed a new centre-back, which we will possibly get given recent events, but Comley is himself a quality addition to the midfield.

Hopefully we have a couple more returnees as all focus remains on winning today to get that one step closer to Wembley.

I am confident we’ll do that, avoiding any upset, and then the league action will re-commence next weekend.

But until then, Come On You Daggers!