Two American-owned play-off hopefuls seek a first victory towards that eventual ambition this weekend, with Woking hosting Dagenham & Redbridge in what is forecast to be scintillating heat at the Kingfield Stadium.

Both suffered underwhelming curtain raisers against promoted opposition from the National League North last time out, as Darren Sarll's new-look Cards lost at York City and Dagenham needed a last-second equaliser to salvage a point at home to Gateshead.

Woking hold the historical edge in this fixture having won four of the previous six meetings including all of the previous three on home soil, without conceding a single goal in the process. Last season brought a 1-0 win at Kingfield, before they managed to snatch an unlikely draw with ten men in the reverse match-up.

  • Team news

Woking

There's been a mixed bag of good and bad news for Darren Sarll when evaluating his troops' fitness for this clash. Beginning with the latter, two players, namely highly-rated midfielder Jack Roles and defender Sid Nelson, have suffered a deterioration of the injuries that restricted them to only bench cameos at York City. Neither will even manage that here, having been ruled out altogether.

Conversely, Ricky Korboa has now completely recovered from illness to be included in the matchday squad, while Kyran Lofthouse is '50/50' in that regard but certainly will be back on the turf sooner rather than later. In terms of non-forced alterations, Reece Grego-Cox is a strong possibility to displace Tyreke Johnson on the left of attack.

Dagenham & Redbridge

The only absence within the immediate first-team picture for their visitors is Ángelo Balanta, whose severe meniscus tear during the club's overseas training camp entails a five-month rehabilitative timescale at absolute minimum, condemning the Colombian to a second consecutive injury-blighted season.

Midfielders Ansu Janneh and Harry Phipps are also out, though nearing a return. Thus, the only alterations, if any, to their lineup will be purely at the discretion of Daryl McMahon - the primary candidates being David Longe-King and Junior Morias, both of whom made impressive cameos from the bench in the previous fixture.

  • Likely lineups

Woking

Craig Ross; Josh Casey, Scott Cuthbert, Luke Wilkinson, Dan Moss; Rohan Ince, Jim Kellerman, Jermaine Anderson; Reece Grego-Cox, Pádraig Amond, James Daly

Dagenham & Redbridge

Elliot Justham; Myles Weston, Elliott Johnson, David Longe-King, Josh Hare, Sam Ling; Omar Mussa, Mo Sagaf, Matt Robinson; Paul McCallum, Junior Morias

Dagenham's two primary danger-men, Junior Morias and Paul McCallum, celebrate together after the latter scored against Wrexham in mid-May. (Image: Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

  • Key Players

Scott Cuthbert

Woking's summer arrival embodies the ferocious spirit of a manager whose sides are always built upon robust defensive foundations. A centre-half pairing of Cuthbert alongside fellow new recruit Luke Wilkinson certainly instil that in abundance. The 35 year-old boasts an impressive career spanning over 400 appearances in the Football League, and will engage in an intriguing battle with Daggers' tricky strikeforce.

Pádraig Amond

Quality and experience is prevalent at the other end, too, as Woking have recruited a pure number nine for the first time in several years. The prolific goalscorer, who has breached the defences of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City while with his previous employers Newport County, will pose a real threat now back at the level where he last struck thirty times in 2015/16.

Paul McCallum

Perhaps the most aerially revered player in non-league, Paul McCallum is usually amongst the division's top scorers at the end of every season and has struck 32 times since becoming Dagenham's marquee signing two summers ago, roughly a 1-in-2 record in proportion to games played. The latest of those got him off the mark last weekend, signifying some personal redemption from an earlier missed penalty. 

Junior Morias

A nippy striker supporting his imposing target man partner has been a footballing blueprint for success for centuries, and that's exactly what Dagenham have. Morias' predatory nature, though, has been completely surprising given his lack thereof at several other clubs beforehand. Ten goals in his final fifteen games at the end of last campaign indicated he'd finally unlocked his potential at a place he could call home, and his last-gasp equaliser off the bench last weekend proved that was no one-off run of form either.

  • Match Details

Where is the game being played?

Woking's home ground of Kingfield is the stage for this Vanarama National League clash, expected to at least match last season's average gate of just over 2700 spectators.

What time is kick-off?

This match gets underway at the traditional Saturday time of 3pm, as does every other game in the division minus the televised one between Oldham Athletic and Dorking Wanderers, which instead kicks off at 5.20pm.

How can I watch?

The only way to see the action live is from inside the stadium itself, for which ticket information is available here. The closest anybody can get besides that is through Dagenham's widely-praised Mixlr commentary, linked below. Both clubs will provide coverage via Twitter as well as a highlights package when the embargo is lifted on late Sunday evening.

DagenhamandRedbridgeFC is on Mixlr

 

 

 

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