NEAL ARDLEY is expecting a ‘tough’ clash for his York City side against Dagenham & Redbridge tomorrow night.

Dagenham & Redbridge currently find themselves on a run of six matches without a win, coming up against a York side that have seen two victories, two draws and two defeats under Ardley.

It’s another tough test during midweek with City having another long trip down South, against a Daggers side that find themselves just one point above the Minstermen in the Vanarama National League table.

“Dagenham have had to have a bit of a reset, they’ve always tried to push to be in the play-offs and have financially had to cut their cloth a little bit.” Ardley explained.

“That sometimes shows in the squad the manager has got to work with.

“I think they’ve recruited well with what they’ve got, they haven’t picked up the results but have been very strong defensively.

“Teams haven’t broken them down a lot, but like all teams at the bottom there are obviously reasons why they aren’t winning.

“We’ve conceded too many goals, I alluded to that on Saturday, and for them they might have reasons why they haven’t been able to get a run of performances or results together.

“These games are always tough, the Solihull’s at home or the teams where the expectation is less are easier to play in, but when you go away from home and both teams are fighting for their lives, it can be difficult.

“Bromley again on Saturday are going to be like that, they had a sticky start and are now in their best form since.

“There’s loads of challenges, I think when we finally get to create a team where we are one of the best in the league, you can worry about yourself and let everyone else worry about stopping you, but we’re nowhere near that yet.”

Ardley went into detail on the club’s plans for their long midweek trip, as City prepare for their sixth match in 17 days.

“We travel down tonight and it’s a long day, so we’re going to get up early and go to lunch and go to what’s called day beds.

“It’s where the players get to rest in the afternoon, get loads of good food inside them and do a video before we depart.

“The boys will be ready to roll, we’ll get back late but what we’ll do on Thursday is train later so the boys get more of a lie in and a better sleep on Wednesday night to catch up.

“There’s loads of different ways to do it, you’ve got to be able to justify them and there’s no right or wrong.”