Wycombe W 0-6 Huddersfield T

I was pleasantly surprised to see the line-up - Novak and Rhodes playing together, like they did what feels like years ago, and no 'big man' in Alan Lee or Jon Parkin playing with them. The way it turned out was that Jordan was taking the role of the lone striker, and Lee Novak played just behind him, in a false nine position, or 'the hole' as Teddy Sheringham would have it.

The team, with the forward-thinking Jack Hunt ('the most progressive full-back in the division' according to Peter Beagrie) lined up approximately like this.

Its easy to see that this is a team based around attacking; around creating a space, particularly down the right hand side, with the double-teaming of Hunt and, oftentimes, Roberts. The ball-playing, particularly during the first half was somewhat lacking, I remember vividly a pass from Jamie McCombe rolling harmlessly out of play on half way, but equally can remember the defence passing between themselves patiently for a short while before looking to get the ball forward. That patience told in the end - Wycombe never really got to spend much time with the ball, and though they looked bright when they did - particularly down Town's left side with Trotta and McNamee combining well (really inventive and high-quality interplay from time to time, again, especially first half) they never looked like having enough men in the box when the chance had been created - Clarke and McCombe dealt with the aerial attack well.

Jordan Rhodes' movement (and strength - witness the second goal) meant he kept Wycombe's centre backs occupied, while Lee Novak, being deeper, got to see a lot of the ball outside the penalty area, using it as often to set play to Ward and Roberts wide as to take pot-shots. That variety meant the Chairboys defence was kept guessing, and couldn't double-up in either position; though the space down the right suggests the front-lying Wycombe player on that side wasn't checking back as often as he might.

What that led to, in terms of numbers, was Lee Novak having a team-high seven shots at goal - all on target, which is one more than Jordan Rhodes, though obviously 5 of his 6 shots found the net - as should have the one that didn't, to be honest. It led to a lot of crosses being fired in - 17, I make it, according to reports (including corners) of which 12 were dealt with by Wycombe. At the very least, that leaves 5 occasions Town had the ball in the box; admittedly one was a McCombe header that drifted over the bar, but the rest were all dangerous passages of play, and three led to goals; as far as a gameplan goes - that's pretty effective stuff - if you can create a tactic that will create five clear chances a game for your team, then you're on to a winner, as it was proven at Adams Park - which doesn't even include the seven shots of Lee Novak, created by the space he found between midfield and attack.

I look forward to Saturday's game, to see if we see the same fluid formation at home (even if results are different) or if the different opposition bring about changes.

Many thanks to this 11 for the formation.