Preview: Notts County v Wycombe

Table-topping Wycombe Wanderers take their unbeaten record to Meadow Lane on Tuesday evening for a League Two fixture against Notts County.



Notts County currently lie 16th in the table with 18 points. They have played 17 league games, winning 3, drawing 9 and suffering defeat on the other 5 occasions.

After losing at Bradford City on the opening day of the season, the Magpies put together an impressive run of 11 league games without defeat. Unfortunately for them, 9 of those games were drawn.

Since then their form has dipped and they have lost 4 of their last 5 league matches.

Their last 2 games have been away from home and they’ve put their travelling fans through the full range of emotions, with an excellent 4-0 win at Barnet being followed by a crushing 6-1 defeat at Dagenham on Saturday.

So far this season they have only managed to win once in the league at their home stadium Meadow Lane.

Notts County have scored 23 league goals (8 at home) and have conceded 27 (9 at home).

Eight different players have scored for the Magpies this season and topping the list is midfielder Richard Butcher with 7 goals in all competitions.

Other players to watch out for are Jonathan Forte and Delroy Facey. Forte is an international player with Barbados and was signed on-loan from Scunthorpe United only ten days ago. He has now played twice for the Magpies, scoring a hat-trick against Barnet and netting the consolation goal against Dagenham. Wycombe fans will remember Facey from his loan spell with the club at the end of last season.



Wycombe Wanderers are top of the table with 34 points and remain unbeaten in the league, having won 9 and drawn 7 of their 16 games played.

The Chairboys have scored 20 league goals (7 away from home) and have conceded 8 (2 away from home).

Wycombe have won their last 3 games in all competitions. They followed up a 4-1 win at AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup with two home league victories, 1-0 over Bradford City and then 4-2 over Port Vale on Saturday.

Ten different players have scored for Wycombe in all competitions this season, with Matt Harrold and Chris Zebroski leading the way on 6 goals each.

Both Harrold and Zebroski scored twice on Saturday and for Harrold that made it 5 goals in the last 3 games.



Current League Form

Last Five League Games
Wycombe: DWDWW – 11 points
Notts County: LLLWL – 3 points


Last Five Home Games
Notts County: WDDLL – 5 points


Last Five Away Games
Wycombe: DDDWD – 7 points



Last season Wycombe beat Notts County 3-1 at Adams Park with goals from Sutton, McGleish and Bloomfield. The return fixture was the penultimate game of the season and with a play-off place already confirmed for Wycombe, the Magpies won the game 1-0.


Previous Meetings At Meadow Lane
1995/96 Lg1: Notts County 2 Wycombe 0
1996/97 Lg1: Notts County 1 Wycombe 2
1998/99 Lg1: Notts County 1 Wycombe 0
1999/00 Lg1: Notts County 2 Wycombe 1
2000/01 Lg1: Notts County 0 Wycombe 2
2001/02 Lg1: Notts County 0 Wycombe 1
2002/03 Lg1: Notts County 1 Wycombe 1
2003/04 Lg1: Notts County 1 Wycombe 1
2004/05 Lg2: Notts County 0 Wycombe 1
2005/06 Lg2: Notts County 1 Wycombe 2
2006/07 Lg2: Notts County 1 Wycombe 0
2006/07 LgC: Notts County 0 Wycombe 1
2007/08 Lg2: Notts County 1 Wycombe 0



This Week’s Ref Watch
Mr CL Pawson is in his 1st season as a League referee. He has issued 24 yellow cards and 2 red cards in 9 appearances. He’s never taken charge of a Wycombe game before, but was in charge when Notts County drew 1-1 at Accrington in September.



Team News

Simon Church is out with a broken hand.

Matt Bloomfield will be hoping for a place on the bench soon.

Tommy Doherty failed a late fitness test for the Port Vale game, but hopefully the extra few days’ rest have cleared up his thigh strain.

Angelo Balanta was limping slightly when he was substituted against Port Vale. Let’s just hope it was precautionary and that he’s ok for Tuesday.

There is no news from the club regarding Gavin Grant.



Notts County may have lost 6-1 on Saturday, but normally they are a hard team to beat. Despite their lowly position, their record of 5 defeats in 17 games is the same as Bradford’s.

Their manager Ian McParland is furious with his side’s performance at Dagenham and told his club’s official site: ‘It was one of the most embarrassing performances I have been involved in during my whole time in football and I include playing, coaching and managing. I won’t accept that at all. We have to pick ourselves up now for Wycombe on Tuesday. I won’t sleep tonight after a performance like that.’

It would be reasonable to expect some kind of backlash from the Magpies on Tuesday.


After Wycombe conceded twice on Saturday and didn’t enjoy their normal level of control in midfield, it would be no surprise if manager Peter Taylor reverts to a 4-5-1 formation for this tricky away fixture. Tommy Doherty could make his comeback in a three man central midfield alongside Holt and Mousinho, with Phillips perhaps rested, allowing the magical Angelo Balanta to play wide on the left and Chris Zebroski wide right.


Prediction
Notts County 1 Wycombe 1