Dagenham & Redbridge defender Scott Doe believes Jon Nurse’s late equaliser at Swindon may prove to be priceless, as his side battle to avoid the drop.

Nurse netted his fifth goal in nine games, earning Daggers a crucial point to keep them above the Robins and outside the bottom four.

Doe was delighted his side fought back to extend their unbeaten run to three matches and was keen to highlight the difference draws can play at this stage of the season.

“I know Swindon are where they are in the league, but they were play-off finalists last year, so we know they’re a good team and the point today could prove to be very vital at the end of the season,” said Doe.

“That’s why points are massive results for us. We’ve got four games in hand, if we get four points that’s four extra points over other teams, so draws are massive.

“We’ve come here with a never-say-die attitude. At 1-0 obviously the crowd was getting behind them and you try and blank that out, but I thought in the second half we stopped them playing.

“We limited their chances throughout the game, they had a few at the end, and for us to come back from 1-0 down is a great result.”

The 22-year-old was released by Swindon Town in 2007 after originally joining the club at the age of 10. He moved to non-league Weymouth, making 63 league appearances, but left for a short spell with Kettering Town after the cash-stricken club failed to pay a number of its players.

Doe made his Daggers debut on the opening day of last season, instantly creating a formidable partnership with Mark Arber at the heart of the defence in their successful promotion campaign.

Enjoyed

On Saturday Doe made his first reappearance at the County Ground, but insisted there were no hard feelings and enjoyed his return.

“It was pretty surreal, the last time I played here was as a youth team player at Swindon,” said Doe. “It was nice to be back and see the people I know and worked with for seven years, but, at the same time it spurred me on more to get a result, so I’m happy today.

“They’ve got a very good team on paper. Maybe that’s not always the way to play in this league, it looks good, but our shape was good and we were hard to break down and that was vital for us.

“We defended so well with everything they threw at us. We knew they were going to come at us, they’ve got a new manager and the only way is up for them, their goal was a gutter, but that showed that the lads have got even more character to come back.

“There were so many things going for them in terms of the new manager coming in, good crowd, good stadium, and that’s why we’re happy, especially after being 1-0 down.

“We never go to draw games. We tried to push on when we scored and go for the winner, but I think a point is a very good result.”