24th November 2015


Manager Paul Sturrock says that the clash against Wycome tonight is an important game in the race to get out of the League Two relegation places.

With the Glovers coming off the back of a clean sheet away at Newport and improving of late, Sturrock now believes it is time to start winning at Huish Park and climb the table.

He said, “It’s an important game for us, I said on Saturday ‘draw your away games, win your home games’. We’ve got to start to winning.

“We got to get a win on the board as quickly as possible, and if the players take on the plan we’ll get the three points we need.”

“We’ve worked very hard defensively as a unit, as an eleven. I’m very pleased in how the players have responded to that, but now we’ve got to be the offensive team, we’re the home team. So we’re going to working on things today ahead of the game, and get ourselves ready for the challenge tonight.

The Chairboys reached the League Two Playoff final last campaign, but a last minute extra-time equaliser from Southend led to a heart-breaking penalty defeat and meant that they would not be playing League One football this season.

And Sturrock has warned that despite being midtable, they are a much better side than their position suggests, and could be suffering from a playoff defeat hangover.

He explained sympathetically, “Wycombe were almost in League One last season; I can imagine it’s been a difficult pill to swallow for them.

“Imagine being one minute away from being in League One, to all of a sudden still being in League Two.

“I don’t think they’ve settled properly for the season, they’re a much better side than some of their results have shown. They’ve got a wealth of experience in their team, so I’m expecting a tough game.”

Whilst the currently injured duo of Simon Gillett and Kevin Dawson are described by the manager as being “a fair distance away” from returning, one player who may start is new signing Francois Zoko.

The Ivorian striker made his Glovers debut against Newport at the weekend, and his manager is looking forward to seeing him settle into the team.

On Zoko, Sturrock said “Francois has got the right ingredients for what I’m looking for.

“Fitness may be a problem, I think it showed on Saturday and it was the right call to take him off, but he’ll build up. He’s a very professional man, a model professional, and it won’t take him long.”

With the emergency loan window closing this week, many fans may be eagerly wondering whether there may a new face through the door at Huish Park.

And, although Sturrock wants to see the injured players return to action, he admitted there could be one more coming in.

The manager said, “We just want to get healthy. I could bring loans in, and all of a sudden we have players back, and we have to change everything again. I think there may be one, but we’ll wait and see on that one.”