United head to Adams Park to face Wycombe on Saturday as we head into the third month of a season that already feels like it’s flying by.
“It’s another tough game, going to Wycombe is never easy and Matt [Bloomfield] has got a good group of players together there,” manager Paul Simpson said. “They’ve got a bit of youthful excitement but also some good experience in there as well.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, they’ve got 13 points so they’re doing ok so far. It’s a game where we know we’ve got to carry on doing the things we’ve done well in spells and be more consistent to try and get that over longer periods in games.
“We also know we’ve got to be more clinical, and if we do that then we’ll put on a good performance.”
“They’ll be confident, they always are, especially at their own place,” he continued. “It’s not an easy place to go and they’ve shown with some of the results they’ve got that they can certainly compete.
“They’re an established League One side who were recently in the Championship, so that’s what we’re having to compete against. It’s a good game for us and it’s one I’m looking at and thinking if we play our game and play to the levels we’re capable of, we can cause them problems.
“I think that’s the big challenge for the players because this season we have to play close to our max or at our max level every game if we’re expecting to get something.
“I thought against Derby we were at our max for long periods in the first half, but we didn’t make it count, then we dropped off from our max level in the second half so we end up coming away with nothing from the game.
“Going into Wycombe, we’ve got to try and get to our level and try to maintain it for a longer period of the game, whilst also trying to be clinical when we get the chances.”
And there’s a very familiar face in the away team dressing in Richard Keogh, who played just under 100 games over two spells with the Blues between 2007 and 2010.
“He just keeps going, but that’s the way he is,” he said. “I’m so pleased for Keysey that he’s come through the injuries he had when he was involved in the crash, because he was fantastic when I was at Derby as the assistant.
“He was a real good pro, went about his business properly. I’ve noticed he’s not been in the team for the last couple of games, he’s been on the bench, but we know if he comes back in what he brings to them.
“It’s about us. You look at people like McCleary and Vokes, people who’ve played at the highest level – they’ve got some good individuals. I also think we have and that’s where my head is. I want our good individuals to come out on top.”
And getting there is a mix of train and bus for the first-team squad.
“I do think the train travel has worked,” he told us. “We’ve done it for Oxford where I thought the performance was good then we gave away a poor goal to lose.
“We started ok at Stevenage and the level of performance was ok there. I think if we were to look at the travel, and blame it, then that would be an excuse, and I don’t really like excuses.
“There are reasons we aren’t winning these games and it’s not because we go on a coach or a train. Hopefully the journey down will be ok and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday.
“I now the fans will do whatever they need to do to get there. They’ve really jumped on board. There’s a lot of positivity around, when you look at the crowd we got for the Derby game, and the response to the Piatak family prospective takeover.
“There’s loads of positivity, we just have to make sure we keep picking up results and keep putting the performances in. If everything goes through with the takeover we’re then in a strong position for things to really go and flourish and we can take off as a club.”