Dickov demands more of the same

HOT SHOT . . . Dale Stephens, who will spearhead the midfield tomorrow in the absence of the suspended Dean Furman, was on target the last time Athletic visited London to take on Brentford.

CONSISTENCY is the key word for Athletic manager Paul Dickov in the run-up to an important sequence of three games in eight days.

A third npower League One victory in a row is the target when Athletic face Dagenham and Redbridge at Victoria Road tomorrow (3pm).

And after seeing off Huddersfield 1-0 last week, backing up the 4-2 triumph over Plymouth and going some way to erasing the memory of the 3-2 FA Cup loss to Accrington in between, Dickov is determined his team does not sink below the performance watermark that has now been set.

"All we have got to do is look back two weeks ago to the Accrington game, when we weren't at it," said Dickov, who also takes charge of the team for a home game against Exeter on Tuesday, followed by the rearranged Rochdale game at Spotland a week tomorrow.

"The two performances (Accrington and Huddersfield) were chalk and cheese.

"We know what we have to do. We will go there and respect Dagenham because they are a very good team at home.

“They are very hard to play against and (manager) John Still has done a fantastic job there.

"We know we are going to be in a game, but it is about how we approach it and how we set out our stall."

Dickov has had Dagenham watched by his chief scout Paul Butler and the trip to East London will retread footsteps he made as a young professional in Arsenal's reserves around 20 years ago.

The Daggers, promoted to League One via a 3-2 play-off final win over Rotherham last season, are third from bottom of the division but have only been beaten in one of their seven home matches so far.

That record indicates life could be tricky for Athletic, but Dickov sees no reason why the current winning run cannot be extended.

Charlton Athletic's sequence of four successive league wins has seen them rise from nowhere into second place and in a wide-open competition, Athletic's manager wants to do likewise.

"We have two league wins back-to-back," Dickov added. "But can we get a third, a fourth, a fifth?

"I believe the players are good enough to do it and they have to believe it themselves.

"At any point in any season, a team can go on a run where they win three, four or five games. I want that to be us now."

Athletic's trips to the capital have brought good reward so far this season, with a 1-1 draw at Charlton followed by a 3-1 victory at Brentford last month.