Wycombe Wanderers can only wrestle back Wrexham AFC advantage by doing one thing post-Charlton | OneFootball

Wycombe Wanderers must go back and get the basics right after their thrashing against Charlton Athletic.

Wycombe Wanderers must put Monday’s home embarrassment at the hands of Charlton Athletic behind them quickly if they still want to earn automatic promotion from League One.

Once again, the fight for second place took a huge swing in momentum, as Wanderers were humiliated 4-0 on their turf by an Addicks side that was far better on the day. Wrexham now have the upper hand with just two games to go.

After three wins and clean sheets in a row, Easter Monday’s result was one that nobody could’ve foreseen heading into the game. Mike Dodds’ side were outfought, outthought, and looked a way off their opponents in every department on the pitch.

Before the Charlton game, Wycombe had conceded just four goals from open play under the 38-year-old’s stewardship, so to go from that to shipping the same amount in 60 minutes was a drastic capitulation that even the head coach couldn’t wrap his head around.

Despite the nature of the defeat, the Chairboys mustn’t dwell on it and let it negatively impact their promotion hopes. Instead, it must be dissected and used as a wake-up call that they can’t afford to let results like that happen at such a crucial time of the season.

Wycombe Wanderers must learn from Charlton Athletic embarrassment

A bumper crowd turned out at Adams Park on Monday afternoon to get behind the Blues, but they didn’t have much to cheer about on the day, as a much better Charlton side comprehensively beat their side. Wanderers managed just one shot on target in the game, which was met with a superb save.

Despite the result, the supporters heeded the message of the players to stick with them through the run-in, and they did just that. However, the shoe is now on the other foot, and the players will be wanting to repay the excellent support after a performance that didn’t do them justice.

In the aftermath of the result, Dodds said that Wycombe “have got to take this one on the chin” as they continue to hunt for the upper hand in automatic promotion. It might sound bizarre, but a result of this nature could be a blessing in disguise for the Buckinghamshire outfit.

When Wanderers were promoted from League Two in 2018, they lost their penultimate home game of the season 4-0 to Accrington Stanley, which proved to be a key wake-up call that got them over the line eventually. Now, supporters will be hopeful that this result has the same impact.

Wycombe can regain Wrexham advantage by doing one key thing

When Wycombe beat Bolton Wanderers on Good Friday, White boss Steven Schumacher said about the Blues: "They're solid, they don't make mistakes." Unfortunately, even that assessment seems out of date when looking at Dodds’ men on Monday.

For a team that’s looked so defensively compact over recent weeks, the plethora of errors and lack of getting the basics right made for a seriously uncharacteristic performance. But this is the one thing that must be corrected to wrestle the advantage back from Wrexham.

Fortunately for Wycombe, the Red Dragons still have to face a rampant-looking Charlton, who could do them a favour this weekend if they successfully navigate a tricky trip to Leyton Orient. However, the Chairboys must go back to square one and relearn the basics if they want to beat the Welsh side to promotion.

If Wycombe relearn from Monday’s blunders and ensure they get the basics of what made them so stout back into their game, and iron out the errors and the sloppiness, then the promotion race isn’t over. But, it’s undeniable that the Charlton result has dealt their hopes a serious blow.