Brandon Hanlan attempts to score for the third consecutive game as table-topping Wycombe Wanderers travel to Morecambe

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Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe Wanderers are flying at the moment and striker Brandon Hanlan is on top form.

The 24-year-old striker has scored in his last two games for the Chairboys as they continued their four-game unbeaten run with a fine 2-0 win at home to Oxford United last time out.

Hanlan has scored seven goals this season and will be hoping to continue his impressive run of goals at Morecambe’s Mazuma Stadium.

Signed from Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed fee in August, the powerful striker has proved to be a clever acquisition for Wycombe.

Known for his pure pace and power, Hanlan has caught the eye this season and scored his first goal for the Blues against current Premier League champions Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

The six-foot attacker can play either centrally or slightly wider as an inside forward and he displayed his offensive capabilities from the left-hand side against Bolton Wanderers when he cut inside to finish past Joel Dixon.

He was also involved in the Chairboys’ second as he used his strength to bring down a long ball. This forced the Bolton defence to clear the ball only as far as Jack Grimmer who doubled Wycombe’s lead.

Hanlan’s second strike of the goalscoring run came against Oxford United where he finished off the U’s with a composed finish from Garath McCleary’s neat pass.

The Chelsea-born forward is yet to hit over double figures in his career so far, but this Wycombe side may be the most talented squad that he has played with.

The 24-year-old is likely to be up against the experienced Anthony O’Connor, who has been partnered with Burnley loanee Jacob Bedeau in recent matches.

There are questions over O’Connor’s mobility and this may be something that Ainsworth feels he can target by instructing his team to play passes in the channel to test the Irishman up against Hanlan’s raw speed.

Bedeau, on the other hand, does not lack pace or mobility and could be a match for the Blues in-form striker, but he lacks the experience to deal with some of the problems the Wycombe frontman could create.

Morecambe manager Stephen Robinson is wary of the threats the visitors can cause to his side.

“I have to say out of the teams we’ve played, Rotherham and Wycombe were our two biggest challenges.

“(Sam) Vokes is a handful, as is Brandon Hanlan, but we have to try and impose our game.

“We were 2-0 up against Wycombe so we’ve proved we can play against them, we can compete against them but tough, tough side to play against.

“Different than Wigan, balls will be in our box at every opportunity, they go a bit more direct, they’re very good at what they do and when they land on the ball they’ve got quality.

“It’ll be a different fight, a different test for us but we still have to try and play our football.”

Wycombe tend to resort to a more direct style of football compared to a Morecambe side, who try to keep possession when possible and unleash their talisman Cole Stockton.

The last time these two teams met, the Chairboys triumphed in a 4-3 thriller at Adams Park.

Both sides led at various points in the game, but it was the box-to-box midfielder Curtis Thompson who scored a 92nd-minute winner.

The home side will be boosted by the arrival of French midfielder Ousmane Fané this week in a move to add more steel into the Shrimps midfield.

However, Robinson alluded to the Lancashire side being likely to be without Jamaican international left-back Greg Leigh due to injury problems.

Wycombe have won 10 of the 19 meetings between the two sides and they will be pinning their hopes on the red-hot Hanlan to inspire the side to three points on the Lancashire coast.

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