In the hunt for automatic promotion from League One, high-flying Wycombe Wanderers are set to host Stevenage at Adams Park on Saturday.
The Chairboys will be looking for some stability with back-to-back wins this weekend, while the Boro will be hoping to build on their victory last time out.
Match preview
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Mike Dodds‘s Wycombe may be in the race for promotion to the Championship this season, but they have only won four of their 10 most recent league matches ahead of this game, having drawn three and lost three since mid-February.
Last time out, the Chairboys narrowly beat playoff hopefuls Huddersfield Town 1-0 on the road thanks to Daniel Udoh‘s second-half strike, and the boss will be delighted that his team created the better chances despite only claiming 35% possession.
That victory for Dodds’s third-placed side allowed them to keep pace with second-placed Wrexham – who are currently three points ahead with five games to play – and retained the four-point cushion between themselves and fourth-placed Stockport County.
Desperate to close the gap to the Red Dragons in the automatic promotion spot, Saturday’s hosts will be ruing the 15 points they have dropped in their last 10 matches, though with only one defeat and five clean sheets from their last six at Adams Park, they will be confident of maintaining the pressure with another win.
Three points would be enough for Wycombe to move level with Wrehxam and take them a healthy seven ahead of Stockport, but they will be aware of the fact that losing could widen the gap to second to an almost insurmountable six by the end of the matchday.
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Meanwhile, Alex Revell‘s Stevenage have struggled across the last two months after their four-game winning run between late January and the start of February and have only won three of their last 14 matches across all competitions.
Most recently, the Boro ended their latest five-game winless run by beating relegation-threatened Crawley Town 3-1 at Lamex Stadium, though they left it late to seal all three points through an 89th-minute header from Jamie Reid and a 91st-minute strike from Dan Kemp.
A rare triumph for Revell’s men has them 14th with 52 points ahead of this weekend, a comfortable 13 above Burton Albion in the relegation zone, but being 16 behind Reading in the playoff spots means that higher ambitions are out of reach for the mid-table club until next season.
Regardless, Saturday’s visitors will be keen to end the campaign in strong fashion, though they will have to overcome their poor away record that features three losses and one draw in their last four matches on the road.
Should Stevenage earn consecutive victories for the first time since the winter months, they could leapfrog Barnsley, Rotherham United and and Lincoln City to climb up to 11th in the table.
Team News
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Wycombe will be looking to top scorer Richard Kone to seize all three points this weekend, and the 18-goal striker should be supported by Cameron Humphreys and Daniel Udoh from attacking midfield.
In the backline, Jack Grimmer, Sonny Bradley and Caleb Taylor will be looking to keep their sixth clean sheet from seven home games.
As for Stevenage, striker Louis Appere will be aiming to breach the Chairboys’ solid defence, and the frontman will be joined by Daniel Kemp and Elliott List in attack on Saturday.
Harvey White and Daniel Phillips should start at the base of Revell’s midfield, while Louis Thompson operates slightly further forward.
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Norris; Grimmer, Bradley, Taylor; Onyedinma, Simons, Scowen, Leahy; Humphreys, Udoh; Kone
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Mahoney; James-Wildin, Goode, Piergianni, Freestone; Phillips, White; Kemp, Thompson, List; Appere
We say: Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 Stevenage
Wycombe may have been inconsistent in recent months, but their home record suggests that they are unlikely to concede at Adams Park this weekend at the very least.
Additionally, with the chance to close the gap to Wrexham to just one point, the Chairboys should be motivated to take all three on Saturday.
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