DAGGERS striker Paul Benson insists the club should have been battling for automatic promotion this season, let alone a place in the play-offs.
Dagenham suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Shrewsbury Town at the weekend, which saw them miss out on a chance to win promotion to League One.
But Benson, who headed Dagenham back into the game on Saturday, believes the team should have had promotion sewn up long before their d-day clash with Town.
"We will look back on this season as a chance missed," he said. "I've seen all of our 46 games and I can tell you there are not three teams better than us in this league.
"To say we've blown it might sound harsh but this should not have even been a play-off scrap. We should have been looking to seal automatic promotion. But we had a bit of a bad run after Christmas and lost ground on the top three. It's hard to take."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here