MANAGER Richard Hill hailed hat-trick hero Paul McCallum for showing "desire" in Eastleigh's thrilling 4-4 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge on New Year's Day.

McCallum netted three times to help the Spitfires secure a point having gone two goals behind in the first 34 minutes.

The forward's third goal saw him beat two Dagenham & Redbridge defenders to complete his second hat-trick of the season.

Speaking to Eastleigh's club media after the game, Hill explained how his defenders need to show the same desire as their teammate.

He said: “We have got a centre forward who has scored three goals, but we’ve got a draw.

“He had no right to get on the end of his hat-trick goal. His desire to get on the end of it was fantastic.

“We have to have that same attitude in defence. The defenders need to have the same desire.”

This was the second time that Eastleigh have conceded four goals to former manager Ben Strevens' Dagenham & Redbridge in the space of a week.

The Daggers scored a quartet of goals on Boxing Day to sink Eastleigh to a 4-1 defeat at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Hill was set to ring the changes at halftime at the Silverlake on Monday until Eastleigh hit back with two goals before the break.

“We don’t need many more of them," he continued. "We were 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

“I was thinking of making three changes at halftime, but then we go in at 2-2 after two good finishes.

“I felt that if we could get the ascendancy in the second half, which we did, then I felt we could have scored a fourth.

“But we are very brittle, aren’t we? During the break, I told them we needed to be better.

“The lads are disappointed to concede four goals at home. We’ve scored four goals to draw the game.

“We will work on our defending like we have been doing, and that will be great.”