Dagenham & Redbridge boss John Still confident of dealing with threat from Boreham Wood winger Ricky Shakes

Corley Whitely of Dagenham & Redbridge and Nicky Bailey of Sutton United (pic: David Simpson/TGS Photo) ©TGS Photo tgsphoto.co.uk +44 1376 553468

Daggers manager says he has a plan to keep Guyana international quiet

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Dagenham & Redbridge playmaker Luke Guttridge looks set for a spell on the sidelines after limping off at Sutton United (pic: David Simpson/TGS Photo) Dagenham & Redbridge playmaker Luke Guttridge looks set for a spell on the sidelines after limping off at Sutton United (pic: David Simpson/TGS Photo)

Dagenham & Redbridge play host to Boreham Wood on Saturday, knowing they will have to keep Ricky Shakes quiet if the hosts have any ideas of winning.

The Guyana winger has been a key figure for Wood in recent campaigns, providing both valuable assists and important goals.

This season has proved to be no different, with the attacker having found the net twice already to sit joint-top of the Hertfordshire outfit’s scoring charts, though he did miss Monday’s loss to Maidstone United through injury.

Should Shakes be passed fit for the trip to Victoria Road, Daggers boss John Still is fully aware that the former Brentford man has the ability to cause Daggers a host of problems.

But he hopes the Essex outfit show they have more than enough talent in their own ranks to cause 16th-placed Wood far more problems at Victoria Road.

“We work hard on our game, we want to impose ourselves on teams, so as far as I’m concerned, we have enough players in our team that they should be thinking about us,” said Still.

“The person in the area will be the person responsible for dealing with him.”

After a bright start to their season, including winning their opening two games, Wood have faltered in recent weeks and are now without a victory in five games heading into this weekend’s clash.

Like Daggers, they will also head into the match on the back of a loss, having been beaten 1-0 at home to Maidstone United on Bank Holiday Monday.

They have, though, been in good form on the road and are yet to be beaten on their travels and have scored in each of their three away matches so far.

Still, though, is refusing to read too much into Wood’s early season form, believing the campaign is not old enough yet for firm conclusions to be reached.

“The start of the season is a gold rush, and gradually it all settles down.” he added.

“When it does, the best teams will be at the top, the ones that’ll do okay will be in the middle and the sides that are going to struggle will be at the bottom.

“That’s life, Boreham Wood have had a good start, but so have we so I’m not unhappy.”

Fourth-placed Daggers will have to do without the services of Andre Boucaud this weekend, with the midfielder away on international duty with Trinidad & Tobago, who face Guatemala and the USA.

They are also likely to be without Luke Guttridge, who is understood to have torn his hamstring during Monday’s 1-0 loss at Sutton United after coming off the bench.

And while Still is happy for Boucaud, he knows Daggers will miss both midfielders.

“Congratulations to Andre, it’s nice to be called-up and we missed him against Sutton and Luke Guttridge, who didn’t start.

“They’re two really influential players for us, but that’s how it is and I’m not going to moan.”