THE OPPOSITION
This is the third meeting between these sides this season with the first two both finishing all square after 90 minutes. In September it was a 1-1 draw in normal time followed up by a penalty shootout win for The Bees while November's league clash at Adams Park ended goalless.
The Chairboys haven't played a league game in four weeks due to a Covid-19 shutdown and FA Cup progress which means they now find themselves ten points from safety, albeit with two games in hand. Having beaten Preston North End 4-1 in Round Three of the FA Cup at the start of the month they lost by the same scoreline on Monday night to Tottenham Hotspur.
November's Championship draw between us came in the middle of Wycombe's purple patch before Christmas. It was one of ten points they picked up in seven games after taking no points from their opening seven.
Since that run came to an end in early December, they have taken five points from their last nine games, their sole win coming at home to Cardiff City on 29 December.
Goalscoring has been an issue for Wycombe this campaign. They've failed to score in 10 of their 23 games, finding the net more than once on just three occasions. While they've also kept a league low three clean sheets, only Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough have put more than two past them in a league game.
Leicester City forward Admiral Muskwe joined on loan earlier this month and, alongside summer arrival Uche Ikpeazu (pictured scoring above), impressed in their two FA Cup ties this month.
TEAM NEWS
Charlie Goode will be absent due to illness joining Christian Norgaard, Pontus Jansson (both ankle), Emiliano Marcondes (back), and Shandon Baptiste (knee) on the absentee list.
Joe Jacobson has undergone assessments on the knock that forced him off against Tottenham but boss Gareth Ainsworth hopes to have him and Ryan Tafazolli both fit and ready to feature in defence, while Anthony Stewart made his comeback from injury in a midweek win over Brentford B. Daryl Horgan and Dominic Gape were also both absent against Spurs but could be in contention.
THE MANAGER
Following a distinguished playing career at all four levels of English football with Preston, Wimbledon and QPR, Ainsworth began his coaching career with Wycombe in 2011, having earned legendary status in his final years as a player. The former QPR caretaker boss was handed the reins at Adams Park the following September and steered the club away from relegation before hanging up his boots after his 600th career appearance against Port Vale.
Despite financial restraints, Ainsworth successfully kept Wanderers in the EFL the following season before guiding The Chairboys to the Sky Bet League Two Play-Off final 12 months later. After 13th and 9th placed finishes, the 47-year-old clinched his first promotion as a manager in April 2018, following it up last term at Wembley to take Wycombe into the Championship for the first time in their history.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
⚖ David Webb will be the man in charge this afternoon
🆚 Sky Sports James Kilpatrick previews The Chairboys
LAST TIME OUT
HOW TO FOLLOW
Today's game is live on iFollow. For just £10 (£7 for international fans) you can keep up with all the action live from TW8.
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