The final match of the FA Cup First Round proper weekend will see Dagenham & Redbridge take on Salford City at Victoria Road on Monday night, with both sides looking to get closer to the coveted third round.

There may be a division between the two teams but as has been seen so often in this competition, league positions, or indeed leagues themselves, have little impact on the end result, such is the magic of the cup.

Dagenham & Redbridge have had a relatively successful start to their National League campaign, currently sitting in a very healthy eight place, just three points off of the play-offs.

The Daggers, formed in 1992, had been in the football league until 2016, when they were relegated into non-league, but have been fighting to get promoted back up ever since.

Meanwhile Salford City sit in the aforementioned division that their opponents fell out of five years ago in the form of League Two, albeit not enjoying quite as good a start in their respective table.

The Ammies sit in 19th place after 15 games, having only amassed 16 points over that period, scoring one less goal (16) than they have conceded (17), though they did put five past Leeds United's U21s in midweek.

Team News

Dagenham & Redbridge

The club recently confirmed that Paul McCallum, the top scorer for the team this season, will be suspended due to improper conduct in a recent game, meaning he won't be available for selection.

That is a big blow for Daryl McMahon who would've been hoping that the 28-year-old could play a part in getting his side into the second round of the oldest cup competition in the world.

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Also absent is forward Ibby Akanbi due to the fact he is cup-tied, and second-highest goalscorer this season Josh Walker is continuing to recover from an injury he picked up recently too.

Salford City

As for the Manchester-based side, there are a few injury concerns for Gary Bowyer's side too coming into this game off the back of a win in the EFL Trophy last Tuesday night.

Both Ash Hunter and Corrie Ndaba are likely to be out due to injuries picked up a fortnight ago in a loss against League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers.

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Those two will be in a line for treatment at the club, behind players such as Tom King, Donald Love, Josh Morris, Luke Burgess, Connor McAleny, D'Mani Mellor and Ian Henderson - making team selection something of a headache.

Predicted Lineups

Dagenham & Redbridge (4-4-2):

Justham; Wright, Johnson, Reynolds, Weston; Saunders, Rance, Sagaf, Vilhete; Balanta, Wilson

Salford City (4-2-3-1):

Ripley; Shephard, Eastham, Turnbull, Touray; Lowe, Lund; Thomas-Asante, Willock, Morris; Elliott

Form Guide

Dagenham & Redbridge:

While the Daggers have got themselves into a strong league position 14 games into the season, their recent fixtures haven't brought about the greatest set of results for the club.

With only one win in their last five league games, coming against Southend United in 20th place, this may not be the ideal time to be playing a team from the league above for Daryl McMahon and his side.

Salford City

Things haven't been much better for Gary Bowyer's team, who have the same set of results in their most recent five league fixtures, only winning one game, though admittedly it was against Hartlepool who are currently in the top half.

That said, with a torrent of injuries put upon them throughout the first few months of this 2021/22 season, they have done well to cope with the reduced squad availability, and will endeavour to relish the change in competition.

Ones To Watch

Angelo Balanta

Had Paul McCallum not been suspended for two games due to improper conduct, he would undoubtedly have been the player to watch in this match, being the club's top scorer.

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As it is, the striker won't be available, so instead I'm going with another striker in the form of Colombian-born Angelo Balanta, who has been at the club since September 2018.

He has scored 26 goals for the club in his time there, so while it won't be easy against a team in the division above them, the 31-year-old will certainly give it a good go.

Tom Elliott

From Salford City, I'm also opting for a striker, and this time it is the top scorer for their respective team with Tom Elliott the one I'll be looking out for in particular throughout the game.

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Having scored three goals, as well as assisted two the Englishman has enjoyed a great start to the season, especially considering he's only played around half of all the minutes available.

He also has the joint-second highest WhoScored.com rating, with an average of 7.14 behind only Zach Jeacock who has only made a single appearance for the Ammies this season.

Previous Meetings

With both of these sides either being formed relatively recently (in the case of Dagenham & Redbridge), or taken over a short while ago (as Salford City were), there haven't been many meetings between these two before.

In fact, in the history of the two teams, they have only gone up against one another on three occasions - all of which have come in the past three years.

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The first time they met was in the 2018/19 National League when, at Victoria Road, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw, despite Salford going down to 10 men in the first half.

They then matched up again a few months later in the reverse league fixture at the Peninsula Stadium, where Dagenham & Redbridge won 2-1, thanks to a winner from a certain Angelo Balanta.

Finally, the most recent time these sides played one another was in January 2019, in the FA Trophy, which saw Salford come out 2-0 winners.

How To Watch

Those who are wanting to watch the game live on TV in the UK are in luck as it will be being broadcast on ITV4, with coverage starting at 7:00 PM, ahead of kick off at 7:45 PM.

Otherwise, if you prefer to read live commentary, score updates and analysis from the match, follow our live blog here on VAVEL which will start around an hour before the game gets underway.