Wycombe Wanderers must carry strength Mike Dodds highlighted into second Charlton Athletic battle | OneFootball

Wycombe Wanderers must carry a strengthen that Mike Dodds highlighted into their clash with Charlton Athletic at The Valley.

Wycombe Wanderers learned a key lesson on Sunday night, which saw them earn a deserved draw against Charlton Athletic in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.

It was highlighted last week by Football League World that the Chairboys needed to learn a key lesson from their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the Addicks on Easter Monday. They did just that by ensuring they contested all the second balls to prevent Nathan Jones’ side from showing their strengths.

Thanks to a much-improved performance, Wycombe will travel to The Valley on Thursday evening level on aggregate with their opponents, but will certainly be up against it with a sold-out home crowd hoping to see their side make it to Wembley for the first time since 2019.

Wanderers head coach Mike Dodds outlined his pride at what his side had learned from their heavy defeat against Charlton a few weeks ago. However, they must show this level of nuance again if they want to progress to a third play-off final in six seasons.

Mike Dodds outlines key differences in recent clashes with Charlton

There were plenty of worried Wycombe fans heading into Sunday evening, as their opponents ran out 4-0 winners at Adams Park just a few weeks before heading back to HP12 for the play-offs. Fortunately, the performance and the outcome were much better this time around.

Dodds’ Blues were on the front foot for the majority of the first half, whilst Charlton edged the contest in the second period. Despite this, neither side could make a breakthrough which sees the scores remain at 0-0 after the first leg, making it the only play-off game without a goal thus far.

Whilst his side were unable to find the net, the former Sunderland interim boss was pleased with the lessons his side learned from their thrashing at the hands of the Addicks on Easter Monday.

After the first leg of the play-off battle, Dodds told The Bucks Free Press: “This is why we decided not to pass in front of them.

“Everyone contributed to what they needed to do today, and even though it was messy at times, I felt we landed on the second ball better.

“This was something we didn’t do in the first game [on April 21], and we spoke about this at length.

“When we looked at Charlton, we looked at the nuts and bolts of what we needed to do, and we managed to nullify their threats.”

Wycombe Wanderers must repeat first leg exploits and not succumb to the occasion to oust Charlton Athletic

Thursday evening’s clash promises to be quite the occasion, as Charlton have sold out The Valley, which will see around 25,000 home supporters fill the stadium nestled in the Greenwich suburbs. Wanderers are also expected to bring a healthy number of travelling fans.

Dodds has already spoken about separating the game and the occasion ahead of the match, which could be a key for Wycombe’s chances in what will undoubtedly be a very intimidating atmosphere.

These words of wisdom are a lesson that the players must heed from their head coach. It’s easy to be overcome by the atmosphere and the occasion, especially for younger players, but that’s where the Chairboys must turn to their experienced players to help focus solely on the game plan and block out the noise.

After a strong Sunday performance in which Wycombe learned how to nullify Charlton’s key threats, they must also carry this away from their turf and put in another strong defensive shift in the capital.

If the Buckinghamshire side gets this spot on again, all they need is one moment which could potentially be decisive in what looks to be a close contest based on the first leg. The change of shape from a back five to a back four worked well for Dodds’ men and will hopefully prove effective once again if he sticks with it.

The Addicks go into the tie expected to beat the Chairboys in front of a bumper home crowd, and Wycombe must once again execute the lessons they learned in the first leg if they want any chance of causing an upset in London.