Boss Gary Bowyer saluted Salford’s character as Jordan Turnbull’s early goal handed them a hard-earned 1-0 FA Cup win at National League Dagenham & Redbridge.

The League Two side had to dig in for the victory, one which earned a second-round home tie against another National League outfit, Chesterfield.

“The most important thing for us was to get through, and we’ve done that,” said Bowyer.

“We got ourselves off to a terrific start, but then we’ve had to defend a lot.

“Credit to Dagenham, they threw everything at us but we’ve shown great character and managed to come away with the result.”

On the second-round draw, Bowyer added: “Chesterfield are also going well in the National League so we’ll know exactly what to expect – it’ll be a good game.

“I’ve said for a while that there’s not much between League Two and the National League.”

The match-winning goal came inside the opening three minutes.

Turnbull powered home a header as he charged in to meet Liam Shephard’s cross.

The Daggers went on to boss the remainder of the first period, and competed well in the second, but it was not to be.

Their boss Daryl McMahon said: “It was disappointing to concede so early of course, but after that I thought we were outstanding.

“From the moment they scored I thought we were the better side and dominated the game.

“Their goalkeeper was excellent, and in the end we’ve just come up short.

“We’ve shown that we are more than capable of competing with a team in League Two, though, so we have to take as many positives as we can.

“I was proud of the lads tonight.”