Preview: Wycombe Wanderers vs. Cardiff City - prediction, team news, lineups

Cardiff City will be looking to get their Championship playoff push back on track when they face the division's bottom side Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday evening.

The Bluebirds are 12th, seven points adrift of the top six with nearly half of the season played, while Wycombe are four points from safety in 24th place.

Match preview

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Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman made clear at the end of a transfer window in which Neil Harris was well backed that promotion was the sole aim for the club.

Harris was set the target of being in the top six come the new year, but that is now an impossible task following Saturday's 3-2 loss to Brentford.

Will Vaulks gave the Bluebirds the lead with an incredible goal from inside his own half, which he later added to with a second, but only after Sergi Canos had struck a hat-trick.

That was City's third defeat in four matches and means that the highest they can end 2020 is in 10th place. No wonder, then, that Harris admits the pressure is now on.

If finishing in the top six is the goal for out-of-form Cardiff, simply staying in the division will suffice for Wycombe, who are competing at this level for the first time.

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The Chairboys have lost 13 of their 21 matches so far, including four of the last five, and are at risk of being cut adrift at the foot of the table unless they pick up some wins.

It has been 12 games since Gareth Ainsworth 's men last won a Championship match, however, with that coming away to Birmingham City on November 4.

Wanderers are without a clean sheet in the last eight of those matches, with no side conceding more than their 31 goals. Their return of 13 goals scored, meanwhile, is the third-worst in the division.

This is not exactly a fixture Wycombe tend to do all that well in, either, losing each of their last four encounters against Cardiff, albeit the most recent of those games coming in April 2003.

In the Bluebirds's starting lineup that day was a certain Gareth Ainsworth. Now the Wycombe boss has a huge challenge on his hands in ending that run in the hope of keeping his side in the division.

Wycombe Wanderers Championship form: DLLLDL

Cardiff City Championship form: WWLWLL

Team News

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Harris went with a slightly more attack-minded side for the loss to Brentford, with Harry Wilson shifting into a central position just off Robert Glatzel.

The formation is likely to remain the same for this trip to Adams Park, though Mark Harris and Josh Murphy are among those pushing for inclusion.

With a quick turnaround in fixtures, the likes of Marlon Pack and Greg Cunningham provide some more fresh legs for the visitors should they wish to rotate.

Darius Charles and Curtis Thompson returned to Wycombe's starting lineup last time out following lengthy spells out, but it remains to be seen if they will start twice in a row.

Anis Mehmeti, on the scoresheet in Wanderers's previous game, dropped to the bench but should be in contention to feature from the beginning on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, striker Adebayo Akinfenwa is seeking his first league goal of the campaign after firing a blank in 17 matches so far, 10 of those being starts.

Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Allsop; Grimmer, McCarthy, Knight, Jacobson; Bloomfield, Wheeler, Freeman, McCleary; Akinfenwa, Kashket

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Smithies; Bacuna, Morrison, Nelson, Cunningham; Vaulks, Pack; Ojo, Wilson, Murphy; Glatzel

We say: Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Cardiff City

Defeat for Cardiff on Tuesday may well spell the end for boss Harris. The Bluebirds needs to get their campaign on track and, given their opponents' disappointing run of form, we can see them coming away from Adams Park with three vital points.

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