Wigan Athletic continue race for top spot as they face fellow promotion hunters Wycombe Wanderers

After a remarkable 5-5 draw against Cheltenham Town at the weekend, Wycombe Wanderers are in search of their first win in six games as they welcome high-flying Wigan Athletic to Adams Park.

Gareth Ainsworth’s side have picked up just three points out of a possible 15 after a serious drop in form since the New Year and are faced with a tough ask to hold onto their play-off position.

The hosts are in need of a positive result in order to preserve their place in the top six, with both Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday, on the same points total as the Chairboys, and Ipswich all gunning for their position.

They face a Wigan side who sit just six points off league leaders Rotherham United with two games in hand. The Latics have one of the strongest away records in the league with 10 wins and 33 points on their travels this campaign. Leam Richardson’s men have lost just once in 2022 as they continue their pursuit for both league and Papa John’s Trophy glory.

Both sides come into this tie after draws on the weekend, with that aforementioned 10-goal thriller seeing Wycombe pinned back twice after leading by a two-goal margin before the points were shared following Alfie May’s fourth goal of the day for the Robins.

The visitors were involved in a top of the table clash against the Millers where Stephen Humphrys’
long-range strike was cancelled out by Oliver Rathbone’s second-half goal.

Team News

Wycombe’s Josh Scowen is now available for selection following his red card against Lincoln City. The
former Sunderland midfielder has been a regular in the starting 11 this season, registering 23 league
appearances.

Midfield duo Dominic Gape and Nick Freeman will also miss out due to long-term injuries keeping them on the sidelines.

Wigan continue their promotion push without the services of Jordan Cousins, Thelo Aasgaard and Tom Pearce for the foreseeable future. Cousins has been ruled out due to a hamstring issue picked up back in December while Norwegian youngster Aasgaard is out for the season due to a stress fracture.

Left-back Pearce remains a doubt after limping off in the Latics’ win against Arsenal under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy in January. However, Will Keane could return to the starting 11 after recovering from injury. The former
Ipswich man made a short 20-minute cameo off the bench in Friday’s clash against Rotherham.

Views from the managers

Despite a bright start to the season, Ainsworth’s side have seen a drop in form in recent weeks with
the former QPR winger unimpressed by his team’s defensive display against Cheltenham.

Speaking post-match, the 48-year-old is determined to put things right ahead of the tough test
against Wigan with fresh faces set to return to the starting 11.

“We’ve got a few players back which is good so I’m looking forward to getting some fresh
legs available. We’ll see what we can do against Wigan here, it’s going to be another great game.

“They are one of the big teams in the league, fancied for promotion, especially with the run they’re
on. We just can’t defend like we did (against Morcambe).

“We’ve got a great bunch, we will be back on track Tuesday, no problem.”

Wigan will hope to return to winning ways amid a hectic schedule. Tuesday night’s trip down south will be the Latics’ fifth match in just two weeks, picking up seven points in the process.

Manager Leam Richardson was full of praise for his squad for their efforts after their 1-1 draw at Rotherham.

“We played Saturday and Tuesday so to then play again on Friday made it a tough turnaround for us
and we had to match fire with fire,” Richardson said.

“When you come to Rotherham, you have to defend and you have to totally respect what they do.
Any point away from home is a good one.

“To take seven points in the week, credit goes to the players and to the staff for how hard they’ve
worked, recovered and travelled.”

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