Dagenham & Redbridge boss Daryl McMahon felt his side deserved victory in their Essex derby with Southend United, which ended all square at Victoria Road.

Junior Morias gave the hosts the lead against their National League rivals in the lunchtime kick-off, but other chances were not taken, with Myles Weston and Matt Robinson denied by good saves from Blondy Nna Noukeu either side of the break.

Paul McCallum and Josh Walker spurned further opportunities, while Elliot Justham made one fingertip save from Noor Husin before Callum Powell levelled on 79 minutes to ensure honours finished even.

And McMahon told the club website: "I felt we should've won on the balance of chances, in the first half in particular, we created some really big chances that we didn't take.

"You always have that fear at the back of your mind when it's 1-0 that they've got an opportunity and they took that in the second half. If you don't take the second the game is always open.

"We limited them to very little as well, even in that second half. They had the shot from outside the box that El tipped over the bar, but other than that and the goal, I can't think of another save he has had to make.

"And in that second half we still had chances with Josh Walker, Macca. So we're disappointed not to take the three points."

Despite the disappointment at not holding onto their lead, McMahon found plenty of positives a week on from a humbling 5-1 defeat at Dorking Wanderers, following midweek success at Chesterfield, with Manny Onariase and Harry Phipps combining well in the heart of defence once again and Morias netting his sixth goal of the campaign.

He added: "Overall in terms of where we were last Saturday, in a bad place performance-wise and result-wise, to go to Chesterfield and put on that terrific performance and back it up with another really good performance at home, we'll take the point and move forward.

"The pair of them [Onariase and Phipps] were awesome again. They limited them to next to nothing. Manny is getting fitter and fitter, Phippsy is learning the role and doing really well in there as well, so I'm really pleased with both of them.

"Junior has been brilliant since we signed him. We laugh about it now but we got a bit of stick when we signed him last year.

"But he has grown and grown and been absolutely terrific for us and long may that continue."

Morias looked to have suffered a shoulder injury in the second half, but McMahon confirmed it was not as serious as first feared and hopes the striker can feature at York City on Tuesday.

"It's not dislocated. We hope it's just a little knock that he's got to get through," he said.

"We've had some really tough games already this season. We've been to Wrexham, we've been to Chesterfield, had Notts County here, away to Eastleigh, away to Yeovil, a lot of travelling and a lot of Tuesday nights as well.

"So we've had a difficult start in terms of that. But it's a game we're really looking forward to. I haven't been to the new York stadium so I'm looking forward to going there and seeing them."