How ever long it takes for the heartbreaking anguish of Enfield Town’s FA Cup elimination to subside, the show must go on – starting with tomorrow’s crunch fixture with Dagenham and Redbridge

A single point separates the two sides and while more pressure might be on the hosts, given their lofty status and expectation levels, Town badly need to avoid a third straight defeat in all competitions as we look to stave off getting bogged down in the lower reaches of the division.

Relegated on the final day of last season following nine at Step One despite a stirring late run, the Daggers’ poor start to the current campaign has perhaps come as even more of a  surprise to many observers but last time out they gained a creditable draw at high-flying Torquay.

The presence of former Premier League striker Andy Carroll among the Daggers’ ranks has sparked nationwide interest and will surely add extra spice to tomorrow if selected.

Town are also likely to come up against Harry Sidwell who played an important part in our survival last season and is now on loan with D and R.

With Town having won twice in the league so far and Dagenham only once, it promises to be a tense and intriguing affair as we bid to bounce straight back from that demoralising FA Cup exit.

“I don’t think there’s a single person connected with the club who didn’t feel absolutely gutted,” said Gavin as he looked back. “I certainly felt it within the players and management but more importantly within the supporters.”

“As a collective group we knew that we should’ve been in the draw on Monday but the only thing that’s important now is to understand how we can improve and quite simply move on.”

“I know for me in football terms it took me a couple of days but the one thing as a manager I have to do is refocus the players and staff on what our task is moving forward and that’s what I’ve done.

“We have two really difficult games to focus on with Dagenham followed by Ebbsfleet on Tuesday. Dagenham are one of the biggest teams in the league and despite their league position I fully them expect to climb the league. We are underdogs which is true of most games we play, that doesn’t mean we can’t achieve and that’s what we’re looking to do.”

AW