WHEN seven of Dagenham & Redbridge’s most influential players moved to pastures new during the summer, a number of questions were raised about where the club goes next.

Firstly, could the Daggers cope with the losses and preserve their League Two status this year, let alone mount another promotion push? And, more curiously, why did their top scorer and linchpin Paul Benson choose not to join the exodus and realise his potential as one of the Football League’s finest forwards?

The answers have become clear on the pitch this season.

At the ripe old age of 29, Benson would have been forgiven for thanking manager John Still for giving him his big break from the depths of the Essex Olympian League and joining one of the many clubs clamouring for his signature.

But, after four years at Victoria Road, the former White Ensign striker decided he could not desert the club that had so looked after him, especially given the high-profile departures, and so he penned a new deal.

It was not through pity that he remained, however. Instead, he saw something that nobody but Still and his staff could. He saw potential. And lots of it.

“I think we have surprised ourselves a bit,” admitted Benson, at a time when Dagenham are sitting pretty in second place in League Two. “I always felt we still had another promotion in us, though, and I wouldn’t have signed a new deal if I didn’t think we could get up into League One. We were always going in the right direction, even though we lost quite a few senior players. I was never put off by that. I knew that people would be coming in.

“I have no regrets about signing at the moment, we’re second in the league and doing very well. I felt I needed to stay and get that promotion that I know we have got in us. I wanted to be a part of that. To get up to League One would be one of my biggest achievements.”

Many will argue that, at 30, the clock is ticking on Benson’s football career, and that the days for testing himself at the highest level are behind him. The statistics suggest otherwise, however.

He bagged 21 goals for the Daggers last season, and is League Two’s joint-highest goalscorer this season, with nine strikes in 14 games.

“I want to get as high as I can.

“I have massive ambitions and I want to play at a high level, but I can’t see why that can’t be with the Daggers,” he insisted. “That’s what I’ll be striving for. If I keep doing well then I’ll always be in the minds of other clubs, too.”

The implication is clear. It’s now or never for Benson and Dagenham.

Should the team come unstuck this season, there will be nobody to stand in the way of their prize asset next summer, and no-one will begrudge him his final fling at glory.

But there is one reason that Benson remains, for now. And that is the man with the golden touch. The man that brought him out of non-league obscurity and whom he hails as ‘incredible’ for his ability to revive and develop careers.

“What he’s done is unbelievable,” Benson said of Still. “I don’t know how he keeps doing it (finding new players). That’s one of his main strengths. There’s not a lot of managers out there that could do what he’s done. And it’s not just a one-off, he’s done it time and again over the last five years.”

Loyalty in football has become a rare commodity in recent times. And one hopes Benson’s particular demonstration of the quality is rewarded with the riches it deserves. All he will ask for, though, is promotion.