Atko ready for a Town return
The Beverley-born defender has sat out the last three matches following his harsh red card at Northampton Town.
In his absence, however, the Mariners' backline has kept two clean sheets in three games with Paul Linwood stepping in to perform well alongside loan star Olly Lancashire.
Atkinson's form before his ban was equally impressive, though, and Woods admits it's a selection headache ahead of the return to Blundell Park.
Woods said: "I've got a big decision over the next 24 hours with Rob.
"The defence has done well and the two centre-backs were both very good at Macclesfield.
"But we all know what Rob can do – the high standard he has set is proven so it gives me a big call to make whether to bring him back in."
It is a dilemma for the new boss but one which he would rather have than not.
He believes good competition for places is key if Town are to arrest their form of 11 games without a league win.
The Town manager went on: "Those are the sort of problems you want as a manager.
"Yes, it's tough to make those decisions but good competition for places is what brings the best out in players.
"We've got people coming back from injury now and in the next few weeks, and it will give us more choices to make.
"But I believe that is the sort of thing that breeds a winning environment.
"If we have another eight or nine positions where we need to make a big decision then it will be something I'd welcome because it will mean players are vying for spots."
Woods may have an extra central defensive option but he is without two defenders for tomorrow's meeting with the East Londoners.
Joe Widdowson (foot) is still short of full fitness, while Bradley Wood has a swollen ankle after limping away from Wednesday's Reserves defeat to Scunthorpe.
But with the team showing a big improvement on the last home outing – a 3-0 humbling by Bradford – at Macclesfield, Woods is likely to stick with much of the same side.
He added: "I have always stressed I want to try and get a settled side but obviously you have to cope with injuries.
"Joe has a glimmer of hope for tomorrow but I would say it is a week too early for him.
"Bradley has a bad knock and I would expect he could be out for two-three weeks now – we'll know more once the swelling goes down.
"But the lads did a lot better in parts of the game last week without those two.
"The most positive aspect was that we looked to have more of a goalscoring threat – we had three or four good chances and that was a big plus.
"Michael Coulson did particularly well on the left and added an extra dimension with more thrust going forward.
"We also kept a third straight away clean sheet, albeit we rode our luck a bit in that respect.
"So we are slowly improving despite the big hiccup we had against Bradford.
"Hopefully the confidence gained from the clean sheet and display at Macclesfield will provide the right recipe for us against Dagenham."
Woods has plenty of praise for tomorrow's opposition and is wary of how they will react to their own home humbling to Aldershot this week.
He added: "It's a credit to John Still and the players at Dagenham how well they have done.
"To come into the league and stay in it is a big enough feat but this season they have been right up there.
"They had their own hiccup in midweek, but whether that will help us or not, I'm not sure.
"To be where they are, they can't have played poorly too many times, so we have to approach it in the right way.
"They play very direct and we'll have to cope with that.
"But we all are trying to end the bad run and give the loyal home fans something to cheer."
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