Ben Strevens showed some frustrations after his Dagenham & Redbridge side surrendered a lead to draw 1-1 with Rochdale at Crown Oil Arena on Saturday.

Dion Pereira’s outstanding early season form continued with a brilliantly executed opener just seven minutes into the second half, but Rochdale forward Tarryn Allarakhia’s deflected finish late on snatched a deserved point for the home side.

“To be 1-0 in front late into the game obviously you come in with a tinge of disappointment, but I’m always honest in my assessment of the game,” said Strevens, returning to media duties following a one-match touchline ban.

“I thought they were much better than us in the first half. I thought we showed them far too much respect, but they’re a good team, and they showed that. They passed the ball very well, but we certainly needed to be better ourselves in the first half.

“The second half was a bit more even with more moments for us. We knew it would be tough coming here. Obviously, we think they’re a team who will be there or thereabouts come the end of the year - in and around the play-off places.

"So, the disappointment is that you’re 1-0 up late on in the game, and I look at myself and think - could I have done things differently? We’ll have to take the point and move on to Tuesday night now."

The form of Pereira grabbed the headlines last week after his man of the match display in the win over Wealdstone, and Strevens sang the Luton loanee’s praises after another good performance.

“It’s key for himself. When we spoke about him coming back in the summer, we were talking about how special we think he is and trying to get more goals and assists into his game, and he’s started the season really well,” the Daggers boss told the club website.

“When we did our analysis before the game, we knew that they would leave him one v one at the back. If anyone wants to leave Dion Pereira one v one in this league, that’s up to them,” he joked.

“So, the way we broke on it, it was worked on in set plays talking about it. The first contact we won and played a little reverse ball out to him, and then Coxy [Reece Grego-Cox] made an unselfish run to go beyond him just to draw the defender slightly, and then Dion finished in fantastically well.”

The Daggers are now tasked with a quick turnaround as their National League season continues on Tuesday night with a trip to Woking (7.45pm).

Strevens’ side will then play host to Halifax Town on Friday evening before travelling to Southend on August Bank Holiday Monday.