Morecambe will hit the road for the second time in a matter of days on Saturday when they travel down to Buckinghamshire to face Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park.
The Shrimps picked up their first home win of the season last weekend against Barnsley, only to be beaten by a single goal at Cheltenham on Tuesday evening.
Wycombe were also in action in midweek, losing 3-2 at home to Cambridge United.
The Opposition
Wycombe currently sit 13th in Sky Bet League One with six wins, two draws and seven defeats after 15 league games.
The Chairboys competed in the Sky Bet Championship for the first time in their history in the 2020-21 season after getting past Oxford United in the League One Play-Off Final back in 2020. Gareth Ainsworth’s side weren’t able to secure their Championship status for a second season, and were relegated back to League One at the first time of asking last year. They finished sixth last season.
Gareth Ainsworth is the second longest serving manager in the EFL behind Harrogate Town boss Simon Weaver. Ainsworth has been in charge at Adams Park since 2012 and has managed over 500 games during his ten years at the club. The 49-year-old has managed 533 games at Wycombe with 209 wins, 134 draws and 190 defeats.
Key Players
- Forward Anis Mehmeti is the Chairboys’ top scorer so far this season with six goals in 13 appearances and he’s only one goal away from equalling his best return in a season. Mehmeti’s most recent goal was the third in Wycombe’s 3-1 win over Peterborough in mid-October. Since signing for the club in 2020, the Albanian has 16 goals in 74 appearances.
- Striker Sam Vokes has three goals so far this season. Vokes is a player full of experience with over 200 appearances for Burnley between 2012 and 2019 as well as spells with Bournemouth, Wolves, Leeds, Sheffield United and Stoke City. The Welshman has also gained international experience for Wales, gaining 64 caps for his country and scoring 11 goals.
- Winger Gareth McCleary has been supplying plenty of creativity for Wycombe from the right. The 35-year-old has three assists for the Chairboys this season and most recently scored Wycombe’s opener against Peterborough in mid-October. McCleary made over 200 appearances for Reading before moving to Buckinghamshire in 2020 where he’s scored 16 goals in 77 appearances.
Derek Adams’ Thoughts
Derek Adams highlighted the importance of picking up three points on Saturday to get the Shrimps moving up the table.
“We need to get three points,” he said.
“Three points is big in this league, and it allows you to move up the table quickly. It would’ve been perfect to get three points the other night because we’d have caught the teams above us, but we've got another opportunity to do that on Saturday.”
Team News
Morecambe will be without a number of players once again this weekend. The likes of Max Melbourne and Jake Taylor are getting closer to a return to action but remain sidelined, whilst Courtney Duffus and Ash Hunter continue with their recovery.
Farrend Rawson and Ousmane Fane will also serve one match suspensions this weekend after both picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season in midweek.
Meet The Officials
Alan Young will take charge of the game on Saturday and will be assisted by Michael George and Joe Simpson with Scott Williams on the touchline acting as fourth official.
Young has taken charge of four League Two games this season, three in the Papa John’s Trophy, two in League One and one in the Carabao Cup and National League respectively.
The official last took charge of a Shrimps game in March in a 2-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.
Listen Live
If you’re not making the trip to Adams Park, match passes to listen to all of the action live can be purchased via iFollow Shrimps, with Beyond Radio’s lead commentator Dave Salmon set to be joined by Matt Smith from Morecambe’s media team.
Click here for more information.
As well as full match commentary, the ‘Shrimps Verdict’ podcast will be available post-match, featuring online, on demand content, including audio match highlights, post-match interviews and reaction, and much more!