Preview: Wycombe Wanderers v Chesterfield

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Chesterfield on Saturday in their 12th league game of the season.


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 6th place with 18 points and Chesterfield in 2nd spot with 22 points.

Chesterfield's Away Record is......Won 1 - Drawn 3 - Lost 1

Wycombe's Home Record is.........Won 2 - Drawn 2 - Lost 1


After a painfully slow start to the season, Wycombe Wanderers have won four games in a row to cheer their supporters up and haul themselves to within touching distance of the early pacesetters in League Two.

Success on the pitch at least offers a temporary distraction from more serious matters, as Blues' fans contemplate the implications of their 123 year-old football club being used as a pawn to facilitate the construction of a new community stadium and sports village which, in the absence of any meaningful evidence to the contrary, doesn't appear to be of any financial benefit whatsoever to Wycombe Wanderers.

Supporters who have questioned the wisdom of a move have been labelled subversive and branded a 'noisy minority,' but this unhelpful bluster has only served to increase suspicion and create an unhealthy chasm between the current regime and a support base who simply want to know how their club will benefit from leaving Adams Park - where they receive rent from Wasps and profit from their own conferencing facilities - to move into a stadium they don't own - where they will be paying rent instead of receiving it, and will, at best, only receive a share of the off-field income.

It's not an unreasonable question for football supporters to ask their own board of directors, particularly a group of supporters who are faced with the gloomy prospect of rattling around in a stadium with a capacity four times the size of their current home gate.

Sadly, the powers that be have consistently side-stepped the question and as a result, more and more fans appear to be coming to the conclusion that while the new stadium might be great for Wasps, lucrative for developers and useful for the university, it's not really beneficial for Wycombe Wanderers at all - it just couldn't be done without them.

The Wycombe board may argue that it's too early to give out details, but with figures of over £80 million being bandied about for the overall cost of the project, you would imagine that someone, somewhere, has put together a business plan which includes financial projections for the football club, and if so, why haven't they quelled the growing discontent by furnishing enough detail to put the supporters' minds at rest?

It's a sad state of affairs and one which is overshadowing events on the field.

Back to the football - Chesterfield, who have themselves moved into a new stadium are flying-high thanks mainly to their superb home form. 16 of their 22 points have been won at the 10,338 capacity B2net Stadium, where they've thrilled their fans by winning five of their six league games and drawing 5-5 with Crewe in the other one.

Their away form isn't so hot, but they do lead the divisional shooting charts with 72 on-target so Wycombe can expect a tough test on Saturday although Spireites' striker Dean Morgan could be missing with a groin strain.

The Blues are likely to field the same players who started all three of their recent league victories over Barnet, Stevenage and Burton Albion.


Chesterfield's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Rotherham (A).........Lost 0-1

LG2: Northampton (A)......Won 2-1

LG2: Crewe (H)..............Drew 5-5

JPT: Sheffield Wed (A)......Lost 2-2 (lost on pens)

LG2: Southend (H)...........Won 2-1



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Shrewsbury (H)......Drew 2-2

LG2: Barnet (H)...............Won 4-2

LG2: Stevenage (A).........Won 2-0

JPT: Colchester (A)..........Won 2-0

LG2: Burton (A)...............Won 2-1



Chesterfield Goal Stats (14 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 23...Cups: 5...Total: 28

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 13...Cups: 5...Total: 18

Goals Scored (Away)...........Lg: 5...Cups: 4...Total: 9

Goals Conceded (Away).......Lg: 5...Cups: 3...Total: 8

Clean Sheets....Lg: 2 - Cups: 0 - Total: 2



Wycombe Goal Stats (13 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 15...Cups: 3.....Total: 18

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 9.....Cups: 2.....Total: 11

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 9.....Cups: 1.....Total: 10

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 6.....Cups: 2.....Total: 8

Clean Sheets....Lg: 5....Cups: 1....Total: 6



Chesterfield's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Craig Davies...........6

Danny Whitaker......6 (inc 4 pens)

Jack Lester.............4

Dwayne Mattis........4

Dean Morgan..........3

Scott Boden............2 (inc 1 pen)

Three other players have each scored one goal.



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Andy Sandell............5

Matt Bloomfield.........2

Lewis Montrose.........2

Kevin Betsy..............2

Scott Rendell............2 (inc 2 pens)

Five other players have each scored one goal.



Chesterfield Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Craig Davies.........25 on-target....24 off-target....0 against woodwork

Dean Morgan........10 on-target....12 off-target....2 against woodwork

Danny Whitaker......8 on-target....13 off-target....1 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy............7 on-target...15 off-target....1 against woodwork

Andy Sandell...........8 on-target....6 off-target....1 against woodwork

Ben Strevens...........7 on-target....7 off-target....1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Chesterfield....72 on target...72 off target...4 against w'work (Rank-1)

Wycombe.......40 on target...61 off target...6 against w'work (Rank-18)



League Form Guide

All Season

Chesterfield....Pld: 11...W: 6...D: 4...L: 1...Pts: 22...Pts per game: 2.00

Wycombe.......Pld: 11...W: 4...D: 6...L: 1...Pts: 18...Pts per game: 1.63



Last Five league Games

Chesterfield....WLWDW - 10 points

Wycombe.......DDWWW - 11 points



Last Five League Games (Away)

Chesterfield.......DDDLW - 6 points



Last Five League Games (Home)

Wycombe.........WDLDW - 8 points



Against Top Half Opposition

Chesterfield...Pld: 3....Pts: 4....Pts per game: 1.33....(Rank-6)

Wycombe......Pld: 5....Pts: 7....Pts per game: 1.40....(Rank-4)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Chesterfield...Pld: 8....Pts: 18....Pts per game: 2.25....(Rank-2)

Wycombe......Pld: 6....Pts: 11....Pts per game: 1.83....(Rank-9)



Previous Meetings

In 23 previous meetings there have been 11 wins for Wycombe, 7 wins for Chesterfield and 5 draws.

At Adams Park there have been 7 wins for Wycombe, 1 for Chesterfield and 4 draws.

1993/94 LG2: Wycombe 0 Chesterfield 1

1995/96 LG1: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 0

1996/97 LG1: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 0

1997/98 LG1: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 1

1998/99 FAC: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 0

1998/99 LG1: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 0

1999/00 LG1: Wycombe 3 Chesterfield 0

2001/02 LG1: Wycombe 0 Chesterfield 0

2002/03 LG1: Wycombe 2 Chesterfield 0

2003/04 LG1: Wycombe 3 Chesterfield 3

2007/08 LG2: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 0

2008/09 LG2: Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 1



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Paul Tierney from Lancashire who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2009. This will be his first Wycombe game. During the current campaign he's issued 1 red and 26 yellow cards in 8 games.



On this day in history - 16th October

Chesterfield.....Played 15 - Won 6 - Drawn 5 - Lost 4

Wycombe..........Played 4 - Won 0 - Drawn 1 - Lost 3



Prediction

Wycombe Wanderers 2 Chesterfield 1

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