Woking play host to Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday evening looking to bring to an end their dismal start to the new National League campaign.
As for the visitors, they will be delighted with having accumulated four points from their opening two fixtures of the season.
Match preview
Two wins from the final three games were required for Woking to retain their National League status for another season, seeing them finish three points clear of the drop zone.
However, there are signs that they could be in for a far more testing campaign this time around having failed to score in either of their first two matches.
Even with their opponents having a player sent off after 12 minutes, Woking still succumbed to a 1-0 defeat, before similar circumstances occurred in their following game.
Michael Doyle watched his own player Dion Kelly-Evans be dismissed in the 13th minute, helping Gateshead come through with a 2-0 victory.
Woking now have just three wins from their last 10 games in the National League, Doyle aware that he needs to find something extra from his group going forward.
From Dagenham & Redbridge's perspective, there is a collective desire to compete for promotion this campaign having had to make do with 15th spot in 2023-24.
As it stands, it is so far so good with four points having been collected from fixtures against Wealdstone and Rochdale.
A goal nine minutes from time proved enough to seal a 2-1 triumph over the former, Dion Pereira also scoring against the latter before a 1-1 draw was earned on their travels.
Nevertheless, Ben Strevens will feel he is building some momentum at Victoria Road at a time when his team sit in ninth place alongside a number of teams on the same points.
- L
- L
- W
- D
Team News
Woking captain Dale Gorman is in line to be selected as a straight replacement for Kelly-Evans having served his own one-match ban.
Tim Akinola could also be drafted into the team as an alternative for Jermaine Anderson in what may prove to be the only two changes.
With the Dagenham XI from Saturday's game keeping out Rochdale until changes were made, Strevens may select the same team.
Frank Vincent and Conor Lawless are both options if he wishes to freshen things up in defence and midfield.
Woking possible starting lineup:
Jaaskelainen; Moss, Odusina, Harries, Dyche, Jones, Gorman, Beautyman, Akinola, Andrews, Kendall
Dagenham & Redbridge possible starting lineup:
Justham; Kalambayi, Eastman, Ling, Hessenthaler, Hill, Mahorn, N'Guessan, Rees, Grego-Cox, Pereira
We say: Woking 1-2 Dagenham & Redbridge
Woking supporters may take a goal as a positive step in this game, never mind collecting their first point. However, we feel the visitors are playing with enough confidence to come through a hard-fought contest with their second success of the season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
