Torquay boss Paul Buckle's avowed aim at the start of the season was for his side to retain their league status.

It's proved a very tough task for the ex-Brentford, Colchester and Exeter midfielder, who took the Gulls back into the Football League last season, by virtue of an impressive 2-0 success over Cambridge United at Wembley.

The South Devon side got off to a tough start and won just one of their opening dozen games back in League 2.

This forced Buckle to ring the changes at Plainmoor and he brought in a posse of loan players who improved his side's fortunes mid-season.

But the Gulls have never been far from the foot of the table and last Saturday saw them record only their first League victory in 2010, when they beat improved Accrington Stanley at home with a winner in the very last minute and that courtesy of Stanley central defender Darran Kempson.

Buckle tried to freshen his side up in January and has recruited striker Lloyd Macklin from League 1 Swindon Town until the end of the season, has also brought in another forward in Ashley Barnes, once with Grays Athletic, but more recently at Salisbury City and has blooded some of his side's own talent, notably defender Lathaniel Rowe-Turner.

The Accrington win sees Torquay pull six points clear of second-bottom Grimsby, Daggers' victims last weekend.

February wasn't that bad a month for the Devon club, but somewhat like Grimsby, they need to turn their draws into victories to completely rid themselves offear of relegation.

Last month they achieved three highly creditable away draws at Crewe, Rotherham and Cheltenham, but also lost at Hereford and were beaten at home by Port Vale, a 2-1 reverse that could prove costly.

Goals have proved hard to come by for Torquay, with striker Scott Rendall top-scoring with seven from 17 goals. Former Millwall frontman Chris Zebrowski has five from the same number of games, while set-piece specialist Nicky Wroe also has five and is a near ever-present in midfielder, in manager Buckle's line-up.

Daggers should have made the trip to South Devon early in January, but the winter weather was at its worse and the game was postponed and re-arranged for tonight.

When the Gulls visited Victoria Road this season, they were Daggers' first home opponents and the highest scoring game of the current campaign resulted, with John Still's side coming out on top of an eight goal thriller, 5-3.

The Daggers boss will miss tonight's trip as he convalesces following his gall bladder operation yesterday (Monday), but the gaffer hopes to be back at the helm for Friday's trip to Greater Manchester to take on Bury the next day.

Surrey referee Steve Cook takes charge of tonight's game at Plainmoor. He was the referee for the original clash in January and officiated at Daggers' home game with Morecambe in September.

Likely line-ups:
Torquay: Bevan, Branston, Ellis, Robertson, Rowe-Turner, Mansell, Wroe, Benyon, Barnes, Zebrowski, Macklin. Subs:- Searle, Nicholson, Smith, Thompson, Stevens, Carayol, Carlisle.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Roberts, Ogogo, Doe, Arber, McCrory, Green, Pack, Gain, Montgomery, Benson, Scott. Subs:- Thomas, Nurse, Folly, Currie, Spiller, Vincelot, Lewington,

Referee: Mr S Cook