Chairboys prepare to enter the Lions Den

Wycombe Wanderers travel to Millwall on Saturday for their 17th league game of the season.


The Lions are currently 7th in the table with 25 points from their opening 16 league games.

After a mediocre start to the season which saw them down in 15th place at the end of September, Millwall suddenly found their form, winning 13 points out of a possible 15 in October to put themselves back among the early promotion contenders.

It's now 9 games since the Lions last tasted defeat and they remain unbeaten at home in all competitions.

Their top scorer with 11 goals is 32 year-old striker Neil Harris who is currently in his second spell with the club and has so far chalked up 128 goals in a Millwall shirt.

Last season they finished 4th in League One with 82 points and lost to Scunthorpe United in the play-off final at Wembley. The year before they were 17th with 52 points and the previous season 10th with 66 points.

Since November 2007, the Lions have been managed by former Watford and Wales midfielder Kenny Jackett, who cut his managerial teeth at Vicarage Road before moving to Swansea City and leading them to promotion from League Two.

The New Den is the atmospheric venue for Saturday's match and Wycombe defender Chris Westwood is certainly looking forward to playing there again:- "It is intimidating but it's an unbelievable atmosphere. Honestly, I'd never played there before and you hear it's notorious, but the atmosphere was the best atmosphere I've ever played in," said Westwood, speaking to his club's 'Chairboys Player' website service.


The Chairboys are currently 24th in the table with 8 points from their opening 16 league games.

Now a worrying 8 points from safety, Wycombe have gone 14 games without a win and only the most diehard optimist would expect that sequence to come to an end at Millwall on Saturday.

Despite leading the club to automatic promotion last season, former manager Peter Taylor was sacked by the Chairboys in October after averaging only .55 points-per-game in the league and overseeing a run of 7 games without a win.

It was a bold move by the Wycombe board, but if they were hoping for instant results when they replaced Taylor with Gary Waddock, they certainly haven't got them, with the new boss averaging just .5 points-per-game in the league so far and currently on a barren run of 6 games without a victory.

Waddock's first few games in charge saw the Chairboys play a more exciting brand of attacking football, which, although it didn't bring the desired results, certainly won the approval of most Wycombe fans who were just grateful for the entertainment.

There was however a price to pay for abandoning Taylor's cautious approach, and after watching his side concede 15 goals in their last four games, Waddock may have to compromise his attacking principles in order to achieve the right balance, or alternatively recruit some better defenders.


Millwall's last five games

LG1: Stockport (A).........Won 4-0
LG1: Leeds (H)...............Won 2-1
LG1: Colchester (H)........Won 2-1
FAC: Wimbledon (H).......Won 4-1
LG1: Brentford (A)........Drew 2-2

Wycombe's last five games

LG1: Exeter (A).............Drew 1-1
LG1: Walsall (H)..............Lost 3-2
FAC: Brighton (H)..........Drew 4-4
LG1: Huddersfield (A)......Lost 6-0
FAC: Brighton (A) ..........Lost 2-0


Millwall Goal Stats (All Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........32
Goals Conceded (Total).....19

Goals Scored (Home)........23
Goals Conceded (Home)......5

Clean Sheets....7

Wycombe Goals Stats (All Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........21
Goals Conceded (Total).....43

Goals Scored (Away)..........9
Goals Conceded (Away)....23

Clean Sheets....0


Millwall's Top Goal Scorers (All Competitions)

Neil Harris...................11
James Henry.................5
Jason Price...................3
Danny Schofield............2
Steve Morison...............2
Gary Alexander.............2
Paul Robinson................2

Five other Millwall players have each scored 1 goal.

Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers (All Competitions)

Striker: Jon-Paul Pittman.....6
Striker: Matt Harrold...........5
Midfielder: Scott Davies.......3
Midfielder: Chris Zebroski....2

Five other Wycombe players have each scored 1 goal.


Millwall Shooting (Top-3)

Neil Harris.............19 on-target....18 off-target.....1 against woodwork
Gary Alexander......16 on-target....18 off-target.....1 against woodwork
Steve Morison........17 on-target....12 off-target.....2 against woodwork

Wycombe Shooting (Top-3)

Jon-Paul Pittman.....14 on-target....10 off-target....0 against woodwork
Scott Davies...........10 on-target....12 off-target....3 against woodwork
Stuart Green...........11 on-target....10 off-target....0 against woodwork

Shooting (Club)
Millwall..........120 on target...86 off target...6 against woodwork
Wycombe........91 on target...73 off target...4 against woodwork


League Form Guide

All Games
Millwall.......Pld: 16...W: 6...D: 7...L: .3....Pts: 25...Pts per game: 1.56
Wycombe...Pld: 16...W: 1...D: 5...L: 10....Pts: 8....Pts per game: 0.50


Against Top Half Opposition
Millwall.......Pld: 6.......Pts: 11....Pts per game: 1.83
Wycombe...Pld: 10.....Pts: 6......Pts per game: 0.60


Against Bottom Half Opposition
Millwall.......Pld: 10.....Pts: 14.....Pts per game: 1.40
Wycombe...Pld: 6.......Pts: 2......Pts per game: 0.33


Last Five league Games
Millwall:.......DWWWD - 11 points
Wycombe:........LDDLL - 2 points


Last Five Home Games
Millwall:........WDWWW - 13 points


Last Five Away Games
Wycombe:.........DDLDL - 3 points


The two sides have met on 12 previous occasions with 3 wins for Wycombe, 5 for Millwall and 4 draws.

At Millwall there have been 3 wins for the Lions, 1 for Wycombe and 2 draws.

Previous Meetings at Millwall

1996/97 LG1: Millwall 2 Wycombe 1
1997/98 LG1: Millwall 1 Wycombe 0
1998/99 LG1: Millwall 2 Wycombe 1
1999/00 LG1: Millwall 1 Wycombe 1
2000/01 LG1: Millwall 1 Wycombe 2
2000/01 FAC: Millwall 0 Wycombe 0


The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Russell Booth from Nottinghamshire who's been a National List referee since 2004. His last Wycombe game was the 1-1 draw at Gillingham in December 2008.


Prediction

Home Win

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