MATT Ritchie faces the team he feels helped shape him into the player he is today but has warned Dagenham & Redbridge there will no room for sentiment when he lines up against them tonight.

The 22-year-old made his Football League debut during a season-long loan spell at the Daggers from former club Portsmouth four years ago.

Ritchie made almost 40 appearances for John Still’s side, scoring 11 goals as they just failed to make the League Two play-offs.

The winger has been one of the standout players in League Two this season and he has little doubt he would not be where he is now if not for his time at Dagenham & Redbridge.

But while he is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, his focus will only be on collecting the three points when he takes to the pitch tonight.

“It was a brilliant time for me and it got my career up and running and I can’t thank John Still enough for that,” he said.

“I don’t think I would have played the amount of games I have so far in my career if it wasn’t for that spell and it taught me a lot.

“It was a really enjoyable time and we did well while I was there, although we just missed out on the play offs.

“There are a lot of good lads there and it was a great time for me, but tonight I have to forget about that and focus on getting the three points.”

Ritchie and the rest of the Town players will be even more determined to record a victory tonight after suffering derby disappointment with a 2-0 defeat to Oxford on Saturday.

In an emotionally charged encounter, frustration got the better of Ritchie when he was involved in a minor altercation with a ball boy, who had taken his time to return the ball to U’s keeper Ryan Clarke while Town were trailing by two goals.

“I had gone to get the ball and obviously he had been egged on a bit by the fans and he tried to nick the ball from me,” said Ritchie of the incident.

“I shouldn’t have reacted like I did but I wanted to get on with the game and I got a bit frustrated. But there was nothing to it really, it has been blown out of proportion.

“It was a little bit disappointing to lose the game and things didn’t quite go to plan, but that is football and we will try to bounce back tonight.”