Dagenham & Redbridge's Dave Rainford believes the squad's team spirit will help them this season.
Dagenham midfielder praises squad's mood
Dave Rainford believes the team spirit that has seen Dagenham & Redbridge go three games unbeaten will serve them well again this Saturday.
The 28-year old midfielder is the only part-time player in the Football League, but he continues to play for the Daggers despite their promotion to League Two.
He told
skysports.com "Some (of the players) have come from the Essex Intermediate League, others the Ryman leagues - some have even come from the building site.
"Because of this we have an excellent team spirit - as a collective unit we work hard for each other."
Hard work
The hard work has seen Dagenham overturn a slow start and, following a 1-0 win against Lincoln and a subsequent run of three games without defeat, they are now slowly climbing the table.
"League Two has been tough but we have stood up to the test well," Rainford said.
"We've only won one game but when you look at our form, I think it's a matter of time before we add to that.
"At Stockport the occasion got the better of us; to then beat Lincoln, a team always around the top of the division was a confidence booster and that helped us beat Southend in the Cup."
Big Games
Rainford suggests that it took his team-mates time to adapt to the intensity of league football, but now that they have points on the board, they can not wait to visit the big teams, starting with Notts County on Saturday.
"The intensity is higher in this league - in the conference teams would come at you for 50/60 minutes of the game, now it's 90 - but I'm having a fantastic time.
"My last league game before this season [while at Colchester] was in 1999/2000 I think. So to wake this week and see we're playing Notts County is a great feeling - they're a big team to play against at this level."
