It’s fair to say that both Dagenham & Redbridge and Barrow AFC are able to look forward to a brighter future when they meet at Victoria Road tomorrow.

That wasn’t the case when the Daggers travelled up to Holker Street for the reverse fixture back in September, with the hosts still in a period of transition after a summer of reshaping their squad.

While there was uncertainty there, that was nothing compared to the visitors, who had just five points from their first nine games of the season and were in severe financial peril after benefactor Glyn Hopkin had withdrawn funding in the previous campaign.

They were the ones celebrating that day, however, after Elliott Romaine’s stoppage-time header gave Peter Taylor’s side a 1-0 win and the following month, the crisis off the pitch was resolved.

Their saviours came from across the Atlantic, not long before Texas-based Paul Casson announced he would be stepping down as owner of the Bluebirds.

He was, of course, succeeded by a consortium of local businessmen, meaning both clubs have very different ownership models than when they last met.

Dagenham underwent a significant upturn in form after their takeover, which took them away from relegation trouble, but they’ve only won three games since the turn of the year.

But they go into tomorrow’s game off the back of a positive 1-1 draw at AFC Fylde on Tuesday night after Angelo Balanta had given them an 18th-minute lead, which was cancelled out by Danny Rowe’s free kick.

Taylor told the Barking and Dagenham Post: “There were some good things about our performance and it was nice to get the first goal, but I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded.

“Our wall for their free-kick should have been stronger and wider.

“I said to them at half-time that at 1-1, we needed to hang in there in the second half and work as a unit, which they did.”