Following a successful trip to Australia, West Ham United return to the United Kingdom for a pre-season encounter with Dagenham & Redbridge at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Saturday.
While the hosts are seeking to bounce back from a slender defeat last weekend, the visitors are hoping to extend their winning run to four matches.
Match preview
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West Ham extended their winning run in pre-season to three matches after securing a 3-2 victory against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Perth last weekend.
After goals inside the first 23 minutes from Danny Ings and Divin Mubama had put West Ham in control, Spurs restored parity with second-half strikes from Giovani Lo Celso and Destiny Udogie, but Gianluca Scamacca came to the rescue and netted a 78th-minute winner to maintain the Hammers' perfect start in pre-season.
David Moyes's side have had no problems finding the back of the net so far this summer, scoring 13 goals across three friendly victories including 10 strikes in their opening two fixtures against Boreham Wood (4-1) and Perth Glory (6-2).
After taking plenty of positives from their week-long trip Down Under, the Europa Conference League winners will now continue their pre-season preparations back in East London with a somewhat favourable-looking fixture against non-league side Dagenham & Redbridge, whom they beat 1-0 in a friendly back in July 2011 courtesy of a goal from Carlton Cole.
The Hammers will follow up Saturday's contest with visits to France and Germany to face Rennes and Bayer Leverkusen respectively before beginning the new Premier League season away against Bournemouth on August 12.
While West Ham are yet to lose in pre-season, Dag & Red suffered their first friendly defeat of the summer away against seventh-tier outfit Hornchurch last weekend.
After securing comfortable 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Aevely and Romford respectively earlier this month, the Daggers were unable to get the better of Hornchurch and were condemned to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a 30th-minute strike from George Saunders against his former club.
Dag & Red are preparing for their eighth successive season in the National League after ending the 2022-23 campaign in 10th place with 63 points, 10 points fewer than they amassed on their way to an eighth-placed finish in 2021-22.
Manager Ben Strevens, who succeeded Daryl McMahon in March, is tasked with building a squad capable of challenging for the playoff spots in 2023-24, and he will be keen to see more fresh faces come through the door as the Daggers have only recruited three new players so far this summer.
After facing West Ham this weekend, Dag & Red are scheduled to take on Leyton Orient, Gillingham and Northwood before travelling to Altrincham for their opening National League match of the new season on August 5.
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Team News
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All three of Dag & Red's summer signings featured in the defeat to Hornchurch last time out, with Tom Eastman, Josh Rees and Ryan Hill all playing the first 45 minutes, and the trio are expected to be involved again on Saturday.
Strevens used 22 different players, including three trialists, against Hornchurch and the Daggers boss is expected to rotate his side again throughout the match against West Ham.
As for the visitors, they are yet to make a single first-team signing so far this summer – only recruiting Irish starlet Sean Moore from Cliftonville – but there has been one notable departure in the form of Declan Rice, who has completed his £105m move to Arsenal.
Michail Antonio, who has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia to link up with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq, did not feature in either of West Ham's two friendlies in Australia and it remains to be seen if he will be involved on Saturday.
Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Nayef Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer, Tomas Soucek and Said Benrahma were also absent from the tour Down Under, but they could all be in a position to return to the matchday squad against Dag & Red.
Dagenham & Redbridge possible starting lineup:
Justham, Hare, Ling, Eastman, Johnson, Weston, Hill, Rees, Vincent, Ibie, Effiong
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Laing, Zouma, Luizao, Cresswell; Bowen, Downes, Potts, Fornals; Ings, Scamacca
We say: Dagenham & Redbridge 0-3 West Ham United
Dag & Red are sure to be concerned by West Ham's strong run of form in front of goal, and we expect the Hammers to have more joy in the final third against their non-league counterparts as they run away with a comfortable victory.
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Oliver Thomas
