Preview: Wycombe Wanderers v Torquay United

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Torquay United on Tuesday in their 18th league game of the season


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 6th place with 28 points and Torquay in 7th spot with 25 points.

Wycombe's Home Record...Won 3 - Drawn 3 - Lost 2 - Pts 12 (Rank-10)

Torquay's Away Record......Won 3 - Drawn 5 - Lost 1 - Pts 14 (Rank-6)


The Blues have an early opportunity to put Saturday's defeat at Port Vale behind them by taking all three points from a Torquay side who will go above them in the table if they win at Adams Park tomorrow.

The Gulls have endured an erratic season so far. They started in fine form, winning their first four league games to go two points clear at the top, before embarking on a miserable run of ten games without a win in all competitions, which saw them plummet to 13th spot in the table.

A recent revival has seen them collect eight points from their last four games to climb back to 7th and re-establish themselves as promotion contenders. They also arrive at Adams Park unbeaten away from home in their last six league games.

Of their six league victories so far this season, only one has been against a side currently in the top half of the table - a fine 2-1 win at Port Vale back in August. Their other five victims are Bradford, Lincoln, Morecambe, Oxford and Northampton.

Their four league defeats have been at home to Macclesfield, Aldershot and Bury, and away at Southend.

The Gulls arrive at Adams Park with a plethora of former Chairboys on their payroll. Keeper Scott Bevan played 5 times for the Blues in 2004 while on loan from Southampton, full back Danny Senda made over 300 appearances between 1999 and 2006, Guy Branston played 11 times on loan from Rotherham in 2003, and Chris Zebroski made over 50 appearances before leaving the club exactly a year ago.

In other connections - Gulls manager Paul Buckle had two spells at Adams Park during his playing days, their top scorer Elliot Benyon was born in Wycombe and his strike partner Billy Kee came close to joining the Chairboys when Peter Taylor was in charge.

The Blues played well at times during Saturday's defeat at Vale, but their failure to turn the majority of possession into clear-cut chances contrasted vividly with the Valiants' ability to find gaps in a worryingly static Wycombe defence.

Nevertheless, there was still much to be proud of in their performance and plenty of reason to be optimistic ahead of tomorrow's game.

In their last outing at Adams Park, the Blues beat Bradford City to give some respectability to what had previously been a disappointing home record. Their superb form on the road was keeping them in contention at the top, but winning at home is normally the bedrock of a successful season.

In their next two home games Wycombe face 7th placed Torquay and 3rd placed Bury, which gives them an excellent opportunity to cement their place among the genuine promotion contenders as we approach mid-season.

It's always nice to win, but beating the teams around you in the table is vital in a promotion campaign and so far Wycombe have fallen short with the exception of their fine victory at Rotherham.


The following 'Mini-Table' shows how the top-seven have fared in games against each other so far this season.

Port Vale.......Pld 5 - W 3 - D 1 - L 1 - Pts per game - 2.00

Chesterfield...Pld 4 - W 2 - D 1 - L 1 - Pts per game - 1.75

Bury.............Pld 3 - W 1 - D 1 - L 1 - Pts per game - 1.33

Torquay........Pld 3 - W 1 - D 1 - L 1 - Pts per game - 1.33

Shrewsbury...Pld 5 - W 1 - D 2 - L 2 - Pts per game - 1.00

Rotherham....Pld 4 - W 1 - D 1 - L 2 - Pts per game - 1.00

Wycombe......Pld 4 - W 1 - D 1 - L 2 - Pts per game - 1.00



Torquay's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Morecambe (H)........Won 3-1

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

FAC: Mansfield (A)...........Won 1-0

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

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



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

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

FAC: Hayes & Y'ding (A)....Won 2-1

JPT: Bristol Rovers (H).......Lost 3-6

LG2: Bradford (H).............Won 1-0

LG2: Port Vale (A).............Lost 1-2



Torquay Goal Stats (21 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........Lg: 26...Cups: 1...Total: 27

Goals Conceded (Total).....Lg: 19...Cups: 3...Total: 22

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

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

Clean Sheets....................Lg: 6.....Cups: 2...Total: 8



Wycombe Goal Stats (21 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 26...Cups: 8...Total: 34

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 18...Cups: 9...Total: 27

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 13...Cups: 4...Total: 17

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 10...Cups: 8...Total: 18

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 7.....Cups: 1...Total: 8



Torquay's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Elliot Benyon..............9 (inc 1 pen)

Chris Zebroski............6

Kevin Nicholson..........2

Mark Ellis...................2

Eunan O'Kane.............2

Five other players have each scored one goal.



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Kevin Betsy..............6

Scott Rendell............6 (inc 4 pens)

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

Gareth Ainsworth......3

Matt Bloomfield.........3

Ben Strevens............3

Stuart Beavon...........2

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

Scott Davies.............2

Two other players have each scored one goal.



Torquay Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Chris Zebroski.......19 on-target....24 off-target....4 against woodwork

Elliot Benyon.........15 on-target....13 off-target....1 against woodwork

Kevin Nicholson.....10 on-target....11 off-target....2 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy............12 on-target...23 off-target....1 against woodwork

Gareth Ainsworth.....9 on-target....15 off-target....1 against woodwork

Andy Sandell..........12 on-target...10 off-target....1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Torquay......72 on target...100 off target...17 against w'work (Rank-13)

Wycombe...70 on target.....95 off target.....7 against w'work (Rank-16)



League Form Guide


All Season

Torquay........Pld: 17...W: 6...D: 7...L: 4...Pts: 25...Pts per game: 1.47

Wycombe......Pld: 17...W: 7...D: 7...L: 3...Pts: 28...Pts per game: 1.65



Last Five League Games

Torquay........DWWDD - 9 points (Rank-4)

Wycombe.....WDWWL - 10 points (Rank-2)



Last Five League Games (Away)

Torquay.........DDDWD - 7 points (Rank-8)



Last Five League Games (Home)

Wycombe.......DWLDW - 8 points (Rank-8)



Against Top Half Opposition

Torquay........Pld: 6....Pts: 6......Pts per game: 1.00....(Rank-14)

Wycombe......Pld: 7....Pts: 10....Pts per game: 1.42....(Rank-7)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Torquay.......Pld: 11...Pts: 19....Pts per game: 1.72....(Rank-11)

Wycombe.....Pld: 10...Pts: 18....Pts per game: 1.80....(Rank-9)



Previous Meetings

In 7 previous meetings there have been 2 wins for Wycombe, 2 for Torquay and 3 draws.

At Adams Park there has been 1 win for Wycombe, 1 for Torquay and 1 draw.


1993/94 LG2: Torquay 1 Wycombe 1

1993/94 LG2: Wycombe 1 Torquay 1

2002/03 FLT: Torquay 0 Wycombe 4

2005/06 LG2: Torquay 2 Wycombe 2

2005/06 LG2: Wycombe 0 Torquay 1

2006/07 LG2: Wycombe 2 Torquay 0

2006/07 LG2: Torquay 3 Wycombe 0



The Man In The Middle

Tuesday's referee is Gavin Ward from Surrey who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2007. His last Wycombe game was the 1-0 defeat at Brighton in September 2009. During the current campaign he's issued 2 red and 34 yellow cards in 14 games.



On this day in history - 23rd November

Torquay..........Played 16...Won 6 - Drawn 3 - Lost 7

Wycombe........Played 5.....Won 2 - Drawn 0 - Lost 3



Prediction

Wycombe 2 Torquay 1

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