DAGENHAM & Redbridge skipper Mark Arber insists the team head into a ‘massive’ Christmas period undeterred from their goal of securing automatic promotion from League Two.

The Daggers are without a win in four games – a run that has seen them knocked off their perch at the top of the table and pushed down in to fifth place.

For a team that, by all accounts, has been over-achieving by spending the first half of the season mucking it with the big boys of the division, it may not come as a surprise that the journey has hit a snag.

Try telling that to Arber.

The defender, who is nursing his way back to full fitness after missing two games with an ankle injury recently, claims the desire to reclaim a place inside the top three is as strong as ever, and anything less will be viewed as a failure.

“If you settle (for a play-off place) then you are settling for second best,” Arber exclusively told the Guardian. “If you have aspirations of promotion then you want to finish in the top three. Then, failure is a play-off place. We’re in a fantastic situation and we face a massive Christmas period. If we can get through it then we will be there or thereabouts come January.”

The Daggers were subjected to a five-goal blitz in front of their own fans against Aldershot Town last Tuesday. And memories of that 5-2 defeat grew worse as Grimsby’s Michael Coulson made the most of some generous defending from the visitors on Saturday, smashing in after getting the better of Danny Green on 36 minutes.

There would have been some stern words from the captain at half-time, and it did the trick, as Jon Nurse grabbed his first goal since August to rescue a point for Dagenham.

Arber was frustrated by the manner of the goal the team conceded, however, and he made his feelings clear both on and off the pitch, first reading the riot act once the ball had hit the net, before analysing the performance on DVD on the coach home.

“When you get these forward-thinking players in your own box it’s difficult for them because they don’t react in a defensive manner,” said the 32-year-old centre-half. “If the ball bounces in the six-yard box you expect somebody to clear it, but there was a lot of dithering from two or three players.

“It’s disappointing because the first goal is always an important goal to concede.

“We watched the game back on laptops on the coach home. It’s good because you often see a totally different game on DVD. It’s good for banter as well. You run out of films to watch and you can see what people have done right and what they’ve done wrong during the game.”

The team will also have seen Paul Benson score what seemed to be a perfectly good goal, only for it to be ruled out for an infringement.

The striker will not have wanted to see replays of another effort from two yards out, which hit the bar.

Bury are next up at Victoria Road on Saturday, and Arber knows the game represents an ideal opportunity for the team to get their house back in order, following two successive defeats.

“As the home side you are looking to take maximum points,” he added. “It’s a good chance to get our form back at home. We’re confident and we know that teams don’t like coming to play us.”

Bury have an impressive away record, with five wins to their name, and they will be looking to break into the play-off places, while the Daggers know that a win could see them climb back into the automatic promotion spots.