FOR Aldershot Town assistant manager Anwar Uddin, Saturday’s clash with Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League is not just any other game.

Instead it’s a return to a club where he had six exceptional years as both a captain and a player, a spell in which he led the Daggers to two promotions – from the National League up to League One – and a Wembley appearance.

“It is a big game and it is very special,” said the 38-year-old from east London.

“When the fixtures come out it’s the first one that I look for simply because I was there for six years and had so much success. Dagenham finished mid-table in the National League the season before I joined the club and when I left they were in League One after captaining them for six years. I couldn’t have dreamed about a spell like that at any club, so it’s a club I’ve got fond memories of and everyone there.”

Having joined Dagenham under boss John Still in 2004, no nonsense defender Uddin helped his side win the then Conference title in 2006-07 – clinching a coveted place in the Football League with, ironically, a 2-1 win over Aldershot. Three years later, Dagenham made it into League 1 with a thrilling 3-2 play-off win against Rotherham United at Wembley.

And Uddin sees parallels between that successful Daggers team and the current squad at Aldershot where he works alongside rising Shots boss Danny Searle.

“It feels like something new, it feels like starting again,” he said.

“I remember when we first went to Dagenham John Still brought in players who were rejected from other clubs, players like me who had been injured for a year and a half, a team full of rejects, players from step two, step three, step four, a collection of misfits.

“Looking back, I think the Aldershot squad we have now has got better players, but one thing we had at Dagenham, which I am trying to instill into our squad at Aldershot, was this unbelievable desire and need to prove to ourselves that we could get back to a level that we felt we belonged, and that hunger and drive was the key and a driver in our success.

“We have some fantastic football players (at Aldershot), some of them are young, some of them have come from divisions below, some of them it hasn’t really worked out in the league or the National League, so there are a lot of similarities.”

And he added: “Clubs like Dagenham and Aldershot, there’s a fabric and fibre about the place. It’s tradition, it’s family and it’s ever present.

“At Dagenham, for example, I haven’t been there for six years, and having spent some glorious times, all those fans are still there, the staff are still there, the volunteers are still there and over the course of that time you end up building a real relationship, a real bond, so it will be great to see some familiar faces.”

But Uddin admitted that when the referee’s whistle blows at 3pm on Saturday, those feelings of nostalgia will be put firmly on the back burner.

“I had a great time at the club but my team is Aldershot now,” he said.

“I’m all about Aldershot and heading up that table and doing as well as we can and there are three points available on Saturday, and there will be nothing in my mind other than winning that game of football and progressing and continuing to evolve as a team as we are.

“Dagenham’s a place that always brings back good memories and it’s a place that’s always lucky for me, so I’m hoping that luck continues in the opposite dugout.”

*Aldershot warmed up for Saturday’s game by beating National League South side Slough Town 4-2 in a friendly on Tuesday night, with a hat-trick from Connor Shields.