Southend United travel to Dagenham and Red-bridge in a hastily arranged Essex Senior Cup quarter-final tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.

And the Shrimpers' reserve team boss Steve Tilson said his men should be prepared for a difficult 90 minutes at the Conference League side's Victoria Road ground.

Return - Stuart Thurgood is in Blues' squad

"This will be a difficult game and we need to be ready for it," said Tilson. "I know Dagenham's manager Garry Hill well and he will have his lads fired up for tonight's match.

"Dagenham have done very well in recent years and just missed out on winning promotion to the Football League last season. Tonight, they will want to prove they are good enough to be playing in the Third Division by knocking us out of the Essex Senior Cup.

"And they are more than capable of doing that if we don't give them the respect they deserve.

"Dagenham will be on a high after their tremendous 2-2 FA Cup third round draw at Second Division Plymouth Argyle at the weekend.

"And they are bound to field a similar side against us as Dagenham don't have a reserve team."

Tilson added he was looking for a hungry display from Blues' second-string as they played their first fixture for nearly a month.

"Because of the quality of the opposition this will be like a Third Division fixture and I want the players to show they are good enough to compete at that level," he said.

Published Tuesday, January 7, 2003

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