Wanderers fan and season ticket holder Will Vince was delighted to see the Chairboys add to their impressive away record against Carlisle, but is now eager to see them replicate those displays at Adams Park... 

After two home defeats in a row many Blues fans were worried that the wheels might be falling off the promotion chasing bandwagon.

A 288-mile trip to Carlisle doesn’t sound particularly appealing at the best of times but, in this instance, it looks like it was the perfect tonic for Wanderers to get back to winning ways.

The teams’ ninth success on the road was a mirror image of the performances that resulted in victories at the likes of Cheltenham and Hartlepool before the turn of the year.

Away from home the high tempo starts are knocking the stuffing out of teams and it’s a game plan which has heralded the joint best away record in the country, matched only be Championship duo Bournemouth and Norwich.

Twelve goals away from home in the first half compared to just 4 at Adams Park in the first 45 minutes of matches this season illustrates the point perfectly.

Although the mentality is always going to be different away from home, I still believe that too many home games are starting in a sluggish style and that plays right into the opponent’s hands.

As mentioned previously the return of Paul Hayes is massive for the team, the way he reads the game and is always one step ahead of everyone else means the Blues will certainly create a lot more chances now he is back.

Seventeen shots on goal at Carlisle represented the highest figure in 8 games for the Wanderers, the return of Hayes on Saturday also brought out one of Matt McClure’s best performances in a Chairboy’s shirt.

McClure seems to thrive with Hayes alongside him, that’s three goals in three games for the 23-year-old when he’s been partnering the captain up top.

With 14 games left in what has so far been a pulsating campaign for Wanderers, I believe they need to win half of those to finish in the top three.

Seven wins from the remaining fixtures would leave Blues with 80 points, exactly the same total which got them promoted in 2010/11 under Gary Waddock.

While the away form has proved highly profitable so far this season, the team need to start picking up wins at home, starting with this Saturday’s match at home to Stevenage.