Steven Schumacher wants his side to regain its swagger to help them across the line into the play-offs.
Wanderers face top-six rivals Stevenage at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Tuesday night at the start of a week which could see Schumacher’s men guaranteed a place in the end-of-season promotion shoot-out.
Eighth-placed Huddersfield come to town on Saturday but Schumacher wants to get to the brink against Stevenage when he knows his flair players will have to rediscover their sparkle to overcome a Boro side which held Wanderers to a 0-0 draw in January.
“Stevenage don't have loads of possession - on average they're the fourth lowest in the league - so we expect them to defend in a compact shape and maybe as a low block at times, so you have to be patient to find your moments,” said the Whites’ boss.
“Creativity is going to be massive. We need our individual dribblers, as well as the lads who are at the top end of the pitch, to step up and perform. I don't think we've had enough of that in recent games where people are creating chances for themselves, so we need that to happen because against these types of defenders, who are good defenders and enjoy defending, you need to try and test them.
“We scored two goals in our last home game against another really good team (Stockport County) and we've scored goals at home consistently, so we need to make sure that we're at it and try and make the most of our opportunities.
“We’ve got three out of the last four games at home. This is a game in hand and obviously one that's been rearranged, so we need to try and take advantage of it. But we won't take anything from the game if we don't play to the levels that we feel we're capable of.”
Wanderers go into the game, which was moved from its original date because of international commitments, in fourth spot in the League One Table – one behind Bradford City and two ahead of Stevenage who won 1-0 at Bradford last Saturday to keep their own play-off push on track.
The Whites have lost just once at home in the league this season and Schumacher is looking to enhance that record by bouncing back from a disappointing performance and 2-0 loss at high-flying Cardiff City at the weekend.
“Sometimes you get a bad result and a poor performance. The next important thing is how you respond, so that's our focus now. We've been over the game, we've analysed it, we've spoken to the players about it, so it's how we react against Stevenage,” added Schumacher who will check on striker Johnny Kenny and winger Ibby Cissoko, who both missed the trip to Wales, to see whether they can return to bolster Wanderers’ attacking options and could also be close to giving fit-again wideman Amario Cozier-Duberry a start.
“It's a difficult game, no doubt. They've proved all season how difficult they are to play against and they don't concede many goals. They've got players who love defending and they obviously have a really good team spirit, because they all stick together and they're punching above their weight.
“What's important is that we try and play to our strengths and use our advantages . When we played them last time on a small pitch it's difficult to play. When we play on our pitch, which is bigger, we've got to try and use that, spread out, pass the ball properly and try and hurt them.”
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