Joe Jacobson says Wanderers are now free from distractions and can focus solely on staying at the League Two summit following their FA Cup defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

Sean Rigg ended the Chairboys’ participation in knockout competitions this season when his second half strike condemned Wycombe to a second round exit at Adams Park.

The Blues return to home turf on Saturday looking to extend their lead at the top when they take on fifth place Southend, and Jacobson hopes to use the side’s cup exit as a positive rather than a negative.

He said: “We’re out of all the competitions, we’ve got no other distractions, we’ve just got league games to go now and that’s our bread and butter.

“At the start of the season it’s the most important and you want to do as well as you can and we’ve got a long way to go in that.

“We’re in a great position at the moment, we don’t have any more distractions and we can fully concentrate on the league. If we take that as a positive then we’ll do that.”

Southend are the division’s form side having won their last four league matches, and the Shrimpers arrive at Adams Park with manager Phil Brown having beaten Gareth Ainsworth to the Manager of the Month award.

A win for the hosts would open up a seven point gap between the sides with a defeat meaning the visitors would move within a point of Wycombe, and Jacobson believes these are the games which can make or break a season.

“These are the games that normally decide where you are in a season. You have little mini-leagues at the top or at the bottom and depending on how well you do against those teams that normally determines where you finish.

“It’s a massive game for us. We’re looking forward to it, we want to make amends for what happened on Sunday and try to get a positive result.

“If we can pick up a win it increases the gap to Southend and if we lose then they’ll be right on our tail. For us it’s a huge game and one we’re desperate to win.”

While Wanderers have been near unstoppable on their travels – winning seven out of ten away league matches – they have found life markedly harder at Adams Park.

Left-back Jacobson is hoping the Chairboys will be able to transfer their fine away form onto home soil when they look break a sequence of three home matches without a win against Southend. “Away from home there is maybe less pressure. When you’re at the top of the table teams want to come and a draw is a great result for them, especially away from home.

“Teams will come away from Adams Park thinking that a draw is a great result so it’s up to us to be able to identify it on the pitch and find a way to break teams down.”