Preview: Rotherham United v Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers travel to Rotherham United on Saturday for their 13th league game of the season.


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 6th place with 18 points and Rotherham in 3rd spot with 23 points.

Rotherham's Home Record is........Won 3 - Drawn 3 - Lost 0

Wycombe's Away Record is..........Won 2 - Drawn 4 - Lost 0


Having won four games in a row, the Blues came back down to earth with a bump last Saturday when they lost 2-1 at home to Chesterfield despite giving arguably their best performance of the season so far.

The difference between the two sides was the clinical finishing of Spireites' striker Craig Davies who scored twice and was a crossbar-depth away from netting a hat-trick despite his team being on the back foot for most of the match.

For Wycombe, it was a lesson in the importance of taking your chances and an example of the price you can pay for losing concentration at the back when up against a decent goalscorer.

It won't get any easier this week when Wycombe pit their wits against a high-flying Rotherham side who boast the services of divisional top-scorer Adam Le Fondre. Reportedly coveted by several clubs from higher up the food-chain, the Millers' striker has already found the net 11 times this season and represents the biggest danger to the Blues' unbeaten record away from home.

Gary Waddock's Wycombe team has pretty much picked itself during their recent winning streak, but in the wake of Saturday's defeat, he might be tempted to tinker.

One school of thought is that Waddock may opt for a 4-5-1 formation away from home against difficult opposition, but in order to do that he would have to drop one of the incumbent frontmen Stuart Beavon and Ben Strevens.

He's unlikely to drop Strevens after the striker finally scored his first league goal of the season against the Spireites, while dropping Beavon would be seen as sacrilege by most Blues' fans who believe that his introduction to the team was the catalyst for their recent upturn in performances and results.

So, as tempted as Waddock may be to shoehorn loanee Scott Davies into his midfield, the front six are likely to remain the same with Beavon and Strevens both perfectly capable of dropping into a deeper role to help out when necessary.

If there are to be any changes, they could well be in defence, where the Blues will have to deal with the triple threat of 6' 3" striker Tom Pope, the predatory Le Fondre and Kevin Ellison who scored 11 goals from the left-wing last season.

Should Waddock opt for any changes at the back he has Leon Johnson, Dave Winfield and Marvin McCoy waiting in the wings, all of whom featured in the reserves' 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

Wycombe's aim this season is automatic promotion. By losing at home to Chesterfield they allowed the Spireites to move seven points ahead and defeat at Rotherham would allow the Millers to move eight points clear. It may be early days, but Waddock and his players will be keen to avoid losing this one.


Rotherham's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Bradford (H)..........Drew 0-0

LG2: Bury (A)................Drew 1-1

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

LG2: Stevenage (H)........Drew 1-1

LG2: Accrington (A).........Won 3-2



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

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

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

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

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

LG2: Chesterfield (H)........Lost 1-2



Rotherham Goal Stats (15 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 22...Cups: 4...Total: 26

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 14...Cups: 5...Total: 19

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 13...Cups: 1...Total: 14

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 9.....Cups: 0...Total: 9

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 4.....Cups: 1...Total: 5



Wycombe Goal Stats (14 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 16...Cups: 3...Total: 19

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 11...Cups: 2...Total: 13

Goals Scored (Away).........Lg: 6.....Cups: 2...Total: 8

Goals Conceded (Away).....Lg: 3.....Cups: 0...Total: 3

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



Rotherham's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Adam Le Fondre......11 (inc 1 pen)

Ryan Cresswell........4

Kevin Ellison............3 (inc 1 pen)

Danny Harrison........2

Six 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

Ben Strevens............2

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

Four other players have each scored one goal.



Rotherham Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Adam Le Fondre....25 on-target....17 off-target....1 against woodwork

Kevin Ellison.........18 on-target....15 off-target....0 against woodwork

Nicky Law..............9 on-target......5 off-target....0 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy............8 on-target...15 off-target....1 against woodwork

Andy Sandell.........10 on-target....7 off-target....1 against woodwork

Ben Strevens..........8 on-target....7 off-target....1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Rotherham.....83 on target...66 off target...1 against w'work (Rank-3)

Wycombe.......49 on target...66 off target...6 against w'work (Rank-15)



League Form Guide

All Season

Rotherham.....Pld: 12...W: 6...D: 5...L: 1...Pts: 23...Pts per game: 1.92

Wycombe.......Pld: 12...W: 4...D: 6...L: 2...Pts: 18...Pts per game: 1.50



Last Five league Games

Rotherham.....WDDDW - 9 points

Wycombe......DWWWL - 10 points



Last Five League Games (Home)

Rotherham.......WDWDD - 9 points



Last Five League Games (Away)

Wycombe.........DDDWW - 9 points



Against Top Half Opposition

Rotherham....Pld: 6....Pts: 11...Pts per game: 1.83....(Rank-2)

Wycombe......Pld: 5....Pts: 6.....Pts per game: 1.20....(Rank-6)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Rotherham....Pld: 6....Pts: 12....Pts per game: 2.00....(Rank-5)

Wycombe......Pld: 7....Pts: 12....Pts per game: 1.71....(Rank-11)



Previous Meetings

In 12 previous meetings there have been 4 wins for Rotherham, 3 for Wycombe and 5 draws.

Wycombe have never won at Rotherham.

1994/95 LG1: Rotherham 2 Wycombe 0

1995/96 LG1: Rotherham 0 Wycombe 0

1996/97 LG1: Rotherham 2 Wycombe 1

2000/01 LG1: Rotherham 1 Wycombe 0

2007/08 LG2: Rotherham 1 Wycombe 1

2008/09 LG2: Rotherham 0 Wycombe 0



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Peter Quinn from Cleveland who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2009. Last season he took charge of Wycombe's 1-0 defeat at Carlisle and their 2-2 draw at home to Exeter City. During the current campaign he's issued 0 red and 16 yellow cards in 6 games.



On this day in history - 23rd October

Rotherham......Played 15...Won 8 - Drawn 3 - Lost 4

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



Prediction

Rotherham 2 Wycombe Wanderers 0

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