Chairboys look to narrow the gap against Oldham

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Oldham Athletic at Adams Park on Saturday in their 22nd league game of the season.


Oldham are currently 16th in the table with 24 points from their opening 21 league games.

Following a barren run of 6 defeats and a draw, the Latics finally won their first game since October when they beat Exeter City 2-0 last Saturday.

Finding the net has been Oldham's problem all season and they currently sit bottom of the League-One scoring charts with just 17 league goals to their name and only a single strike in the three cup competitions, all of which they departed at the first-round stage.

Top goalscorer Pawel Abbott has bagged 4 goals from open play and 2 penalties, but apart from him, the Latics only have one player who's scored more than a single goal so far this season, and he's only managed to find the net twice.

It's at the other end of the pitch that Oldham have kept their heads above water, with 7 clean sheets to their name and only Leeds, Colchester, Charlton and Millwall having conceded fewer league-goals this season.

The Latics manager is former Doncaster Rovers and Darlington boss Dave Penney who's in his first season in charge at Boundary Park and will no doubt be hoping his side can follow up last week's victory with another against the Chairboys on Saturday to widen the gap between the two clubs to ten points as we approach the season's half-way mark.



Wycombe are currently 22nd in the table with 17 points from their opening 21 league games.

Five points away from escaping the relegation zone, the Chairboys will be hoping for a decent haul of points from their next three games which are all against teams in the bottom half of the table, starting with the Latics who are currently only 6 places and 7 points ahead.

Fortunes change quickly in football. Only last week Wycombe were celebrating an encouraging record of three wins in their last four games, but following their defeat at Carlisle last Saturday, a further setback against Oldham this weekend would turn the tables completely, giving them an unwanted tally of three defeats in four outings.

Like Oldham, the Chairboys have found goals hard to come by this season, and despite creating several chances last Saturday against Carlisle, the familiar lack of a cutting edge saw them finish the match goal-less for the 10th time this campaign.

Last season's goalscoring revelation John Akinde only managed to play 254 minutes during the first month of his loan-spell and is yet to find the sharpness he displayed when grabbing 7 goals in the last 11 games of the promotion campaign. Meanwhile, his current partner Matt Harrold has only managed a strike-rate of 1 goal from open play every 506 minutes (5.6 games), while Surprisingly, the Chairboys' most prolific forward, the pacy Jon Paul Pittman, is rarely used from the start.

With his hands tied until January, Wycombe manager Gary Waddock has had to rely on the loan-market to import players capable of turning the Chairboys' season around and the performances of Scott Davies, Kevin Betsy and Gareth Ainsworth have had much to do with the recent improvement in results

This week's news that the injured Ainsworth has now returned to QPR, is therefore particularly unwelcome with the busy Christmas schedule almost upon us.

However, with Davies and Betsy still at Adams Park and Tommy Doherty likely to make a return to the starting line-up on Saturday, the Chairboys should be able to create enough chances against a tight Oldham defence, the only question being, can they take them?

On the injury front, apart from the departed Ainsworth, Wycombe will also be without Leon Johnson and Lewis Montrose.


Oldham's last five games (All Competitions)

LG1: Colchester (H).........Drew 2-2
LG1: Walsall (A)................Lost 3-0
LG1: Leeds (H)..................Lost 2-0
LG1: Norwich (A)...............Lost 2-0
LG1: Exeter (H)................Won 2-0


Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

LG1: Millwall (A)..............Won 2-0
LG1: Brentford (H)...........Won 1-0
LG1: Southampton (A)......Lost 1-0
LG1: Stockport (H)...........Won 2-1
LG1: Carlisle (A) .............Lost 1-0


Oldham Goal Stats (24 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........18
Goals Conceded (Total).....30

Goals Scored (Away)..........6
Goals Conceded (Away)....12

Clean Sheets....7


Wycombe Goals Stats (25 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........26
Goals Conceded (Total).....46

Goals Scored (Home)........15
Goals Conceded (Home)....21

Clean Sheets....2


Oldham's Top Goal Scorers (All Competitions)

Pawel Abbott..............6 (inc 2 pens)
Keigan Parker............2

Ten other Oldham players have each scored 1 goal.


Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers (All Competitions)

Jon-Paul Pittman.........6 (inc 1 pen)
Matt Harrold...............6 (inc 3 pens)
Scott Davies...............4
Chris Zebroski............2
Chris Westwood..........2

Six other Wycombe players have each scored 1 goal.


Oldham Shooting (Top-3)

Pawel Abbott.........25 on-target....18 off-target.....1 against woodwork
Danny Whitaker ....13 on-target....19 off-target.....6 against woodwork
Dean Furman...........9 on-target....14 off-target.....0 against woodwork


Wycombe Shooting (Top-3)

Scott Davies...........15 on-target....18 off-target....3 against woodwork
Matt Phillips............15 on-target....14 off-target....1 against woodwork
Jon-Paul Pittman.....15 on-target....11 off-target....0 against woodwork


Shooting (Club)
Oldham...........98 on target...105 off target...5 against woodwork
Wycombe......118 on target....99 off target....5 against woodwork



League Form Guide

All Games
Oldham.........Pld: 21...W: 6...D: 6...L: 9.....Pts: 24...Pts per game: 1.14
Wycombe......Pld: 21...W: 4...D: 5...L: 12...Pts: 17...Pts per game: 0.81


Against Top Half Opposition
Oldham..........Pld: 12.....Pts: 9....Pts per game: 0.75
Wycombe.......Pld: 12.....Pts: 9....Pts per game: 0.75


Against Bottom Half Opposition
Oldham...........Pld: 9.....Pts: 15....Pts per game: 1.66
Wycombe........Pld: 9.....Pts: 8......Pts per game: 0.88


Last Five league Games
Oldham:............DLLLW - 4 points
Wycombe:.......WWLWL - 9 points


Last Five League Games (Away)
Oldham:............DWLLL - 4 points


Last Five League Games (Home)
Wycombe:........LDLWW - 7 points



Previous Meetings

In 14 previous meetings there have been 7 wins for Wycombe, 3 for Oldham and 4 draws.

At Adams Park there have been 4 wins for Wycombe, 1 for Oldham and 2 draws.

1997/98 LG1: Wycombe 2 Oldham 1
1998/99 LG1: Wycombe 3 Oldham 0
1999/00 LG1: Wycombe 0 Oldham 0
2000/01 LG1: Wycombe 2 Oldham 1
2001/02 LG1: Wycombe 2 Oldham 1
2002/03 LG1: Wycombe 2 Oldham 2
2003/04 LG1: Wycombe 2 Oldham 5



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Danny McDermid from London who became a National List Referee in 2006. His last Wycombe game was a 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley at Adams Park in January 2007. So far this season, he's issued 52 yellow cards in 17 games but is yet to send anyone off.


Prediction

A single goal could be enough to decide a tight game.

Home Win

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