The full-back reflects on the situation at Victoria Road, facing old team-mate Corey Whitely and his new partner in crime James Brophy

Sam Ling may have left Dagenham & Redbridge over a month ago, but he has had plenty of reminders of his old club this week and insists he will always look out for their results after spending 18 months at Victoria Road.

The full-back recently came up against two former team-mates at Brisbane Road as Corey Whitely visited with Ebbsfleet United on Saturday before Elliott Romain was part of the Torquay United squad competing in E10 on Tuesday.

While Ling has impressed in the two games, many others in the O’s squad haven’t and John Still’s Daggers have also suffered back-to-back defeats this week, so the 21-year-old hasn’t had a lot to smile about.

“I’ll always look out for the Dagenham results from here on in and it is never nice to see a club like that go the way it has, but before Saturday they had picked up a good few results,” said the right-back.

“Hopefully they can turn it around, survive and get something sorted and they’ll be a massive club and one of the favourites for next season I’m sure.”

Ling did battle with Whitely last weekend, having previously spent most of the first-half of the campaign linking up with him in a Daggers shirt.

He admitted it was good to see the playmaker, but he was frustrated it was his mistake which allowed the Fleet winger to score in the 1-1 draw.

“I was with Corey for a while at Dagenham and he can be one of the best players on the pitch by far,” said Ling.

“Obviously he scored the goal for Ebbsfleet, which wasn’t a good thing on my behalf, but it was good to see him again. I’m glad he’s playing and doing well and I wish him well for the rest of the season.”

The man Ling is now combining with is James Brophy – for the time being anyway – on the left side of the Orient team.

He is more accustomed to playing at right-back, but the defender can do a job on the left and has shown plenty of encouraging signs over the past few days.

Ling added: “It is different gear playing with ‘Brophs’. He is a very good, talented player and in training we are building a little partnership.

“You saw on Saturday it is working quite well and the more chances I get to play with ‘Brophs’ in front of me the happier I’ll be.”