West Ham United continue their pre-season preparations with a friendly against non-league outfit Dagenham and Redbridge at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Saturday.
The two teams meet for the first time since the Daggers held the Hammers to a 2-2 friendly draw in July last year.
Match preview
West Ham kick-started Julen Lopetegui's tenure as head coach by playing out a 2-2 draw with Hungarian champions Ferencvaros on Monday.
Following an intense week-and-a-half of training in the Austrian town of Kitzbuhel, the Hammers were trailing by two goals heading into half time, but second-half substitutes Danny Ings and Nayef Aguerd both made the net ripple, the latter scoring in the 90th minute, to salvage a share of the spoils.
Lopetegui has taken positives from the "very hard test" against Ferencvaros and is keen to see his senior and academy players 'increase their rhythm' and work on the ideas that have been drilled into them as they continue their preparations for the new season.
After three successive seasons competing in Europe, West Ham only have domestic duties to look forward to in 2024-25, with Lopetegui's side targeting at least a top-seven finish in the Premier League after finishing ninth last season in David Moyes's final year in charge of the club.
The Hammers will follow up Saturday's friendly with Dagenham & Redbridge with a trip to the USA for encounters against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace, before returning home for their final friendly against Celta Vigo, which takes place a week before their Premier League opener versus Aston Villa on August 17.
Dagenham & Redbridge are preparing for the ninth consecutive season in the National League, the fifth tier of English football, following a 15th-placed finish in the 2023-24 campaign.
Despite winning only two of their final nine league games of the season, the Daggers did enough to avoid relegation, finishing four points and six places above the bottom four.
Ben Strevens, who was appointed head coach in March following the departure of Daryl McMahon, has since seen his side make a winless start to their pre-season programme, with a 5-3 defeat to Aveley just over a week ago followed by a goalless stalemate with Dulwich Hamlet last Saturday.
Strevens has admitted that there is still "a lot" to work to be done in the coming weeks, particularly in the final third having concentrated primarily on building up his player's fitness and other tactical aspects over the last fortnight.
Dagenham & Redbridge will follow up Saturday's tricky test against West Ham with three more friendlies against Campobasso, Tottenham Hotspur's Under-21s and Leyton Orient, before preparing for their opening National League game of the new season at home to Wealdstone on August 10.
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Team News
West Ham boss Lopetegui gave debuts to summer signings Luis Guilherme, Maximilian Kilman and Wes Foderingham in their pre-season opener, and the trio are expected to feature again in some capacity on Saturday.
Aguerd, Ings, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri and George Earthy all began as substitutes last time out, but they could begin from the start against Dagenham & Redbridge if Lopetegui wishes to rotate his side.
It remains to be seen whether Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Michael Antonio and Jarrod Bowen will be involved, as they did not feature against Ferencvaros having all recently been away on international duty.
Edson Alvarez is set to remain sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury with Mexico at the 2024 Copa America, while Flynn Downes has now joined Southampton on a permanent deal.
As for Dagenham & Redbridge, new signings Harrison Day, Paul Kalambayi, Trent Rendall, Christian N'Guessan and Oscar Rutherford all featured in the draw with Dulwich Hamlet last time out and are set to play again against the Hammers.
Strevens is expected to give minutes to as many players within his squad and also select a few more trialists who have been with the team for pre-season.
Dagenham & Redbridge possible starting lineup:
Justham, Rendall, Phipps, Kalambayi, Rutherford, Hessenthaler, N'Guessan, Rees, Hill, Remy, Day
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Marshall, Zouma, Kilman, Emerson; Earthy, Potts, Ward-Prowse; Guilherme, Kudus, Cornet
We say: Dagenham & Redbridge 0-3 West Ham United
Dagenham & Redbridge put in an admirable display when they shared the spoils in their friendly clash with West Ham this time last year, but we are predicting that the Hammers to come out on top in more convincing fashion this time around.
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