Gareth Ainsworth believes his Wanderers team head into Saturday’s clash against Southend at Adams Park as ‘underdogs’ - despite being four points ahead of their opponents.

The Chairboys lead the way at the top of League Two, but the Wycombe manager is wary of the fifth place Shrimpers who have picked up four straight wins.

That fine run of form saw Phil Brown pick collect the Manager of the Month award for November ahead of fellow nominee Ainsworth, who feels the visitors head into the weekend’s game as favourites.

He said: “It will be a strong test for us. They were one of the favourites for the league in pre-season and you can see why. They’ve got good crowds at Roots Hall and a good manager in Phil Brown.

“All those things together make us the underdogs, definitely. It’s a strong side on a good run and Phil Brown has won Manager of the Month twice already this season.

“Our small squad and the problems Wycombe has got off the pitch, financially, are well documented, so it’s going to be a tough game against one of the highly fancied teams for promotion in League Two.”

Defeat to AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup second round last Sunday ended any remaining interest the Chairboys had in cup competitions, with the path now clear to focus on staying at the League Two summit.

Alfie Mawson, Fred Onyedinma and Danny Rowe all return to the fold after missing the Dons defeat through ineligibility as Wanderers look to pick up a third consecutive league win.

Ainsworth’s side have yet to win three in a row this campaign, but it’s not something which has crossed the manager’s mind.

“You can get stats, if you analyse them long enough, to show what you want them to show. You can find a way of doing that with stats.

“The run of games is healthy and you have to be aware of teams who are on good runs, but we don’t count what we’re doing we just get out there and, like I said, put out a side to get more points towards the total that we set out to get at the start of the season.”

Wanderers are winless in their last three games on home soil and Ainsworth admitted that his side often struggle to find the fluency in front of their own fans that is so evident in their play away from Adams Park.

“It’s been tough with the home form since I took over, really. We don’t seem to be able to get the ball down and play as much as we do away from home.

“Away from home we get the ball down and we play, pass it well, and at home teams come and try to make the game difficult for us. They make it bitty, difficult to get any flow and that’s part and parcel of football.”