Bob Johnson gave the lowdown on Wycombe Wanderers
- Expert’s view on Wycombe Wanderers
- Details on what to expect from Gareth Ainsworth
- Gain an understanding on Wycombe’s style of play
Wycombe Wanderers commentator Bob Johnson gave his thoughts on the Chairboys ahead of Huddersfield Town’s latest Sky Bet Championship game!
What can we expect from Wycombe in terms of style?
I think the general football consensus to this question would be direct although I'd rather call it exciting! If you want to watch a side who string 20 passes together and try to dribble the ball into the net, then definitely don't come to Adams Park. We are all about getting the ball up to either Uche Ikpeazu or Adebayo Akinfenwa up front who can lay it off to one of our attacking midfielders to create chances.
Away from home, Wycombe have only won one game – what’s been going wrong?
We always knew it was going to be tough in the Championship. Three seasons ago we were in League 2 and even then, had one of the smallest budgets and were a regular answer to the pundits 'favourites to go down' question. Although we've got a great squad and have done good business in the transfer market, we just can't compete with the spending and quality that other teams, in particular those recently in the Premier League, have.
Where have Wycombe’s successes come from this season?
The fact that we've only been really outclassed twice, which happened at Blackburn and Brentford, is definitely a positive. Even some Wycombe fans feared we'd be on the wrong end of eye-watering scorelines regularly. We held Watford, Brentford and yourselves at home, were very unlucky to lose at Norwich and AFC Bournemouth and won away at Birmingham after going a goal down. The 4-1 win over Preston was very enjoyable although frustrating that it came in the FA Cup rather than the league, but it did give us a home tie with Tottenham who we took the lead against and then held at 1-1 until the 85th minute forcing Jose to bring on both Son and Kane.
Where will the key battles be?
I remember Bayo and Bacuna tussling a lot at Adams Park in November so look out for a repeat of that. Ryan Schofield was only making his second league appearance for you in that game and there were a few nervy moments with his short goal kicks. I imagine he's a lot more confident now he has more games under his belt but expect Scott Kashket and Fred Onyedinma to be buzzing around your back four looking to pounce on any wayward passes. With Jonathan Hogg in midfield you are always solid there so whoever plays central mid for us whether it's Curtis Thompson, Matt Bloomfield or Dennis Adeniran is going to have to be at their best.
What do Town need to do against Wycombe to get three points?
An obvious answer but putting the ball past Ryan Allsop is probably the hardest thing for our opponents to do at the moment. We may have conceded easily the highest number of goals in the division, but our ‘keeper has been outstanding and has kept the scoreline far more respectable in some games than it could have been. His point-blank saves, in particular, in the recent draw at home to Birmingham were incredible and he's rightly been named in the Championship Team of the Week on more than one occasion.
How pleased can Wycombe be with the business they did in January?
Very. We arranged to keep Leicester's Josh Knight until the end of the season who has been fantastic in the centre of defence and will probably go on to establish himself in the Premier League. We also borrowed Admiral Muskwe from the Foxes, Nnamdi Ofoborh came back from AFC Bournemouth and Jordan Obita joined as cover at left back from Oxford United. Obita was only the second player Gareth Ainsworth has ever paid for which gives you some idea of the financial constraints Wycombe operate under.
