Wycombe will be without Aaron Pierre for only the second time this season when they take on Stevenage tomorrow – handing manager Gareth Ainsworth a defensive headache.

Alfie Mawson and Pierre have formed a centre back partnership which has helped Blues keep 12 clean sheets during the campaign so far.

The one match the former Brentford man missed saw the Sky cameras capture an unusually weak defensive display from Blues in a 3-1 defeat to Burton Albion back in November.

Sido Jombati filled in at centre-back that day and Ainsworth admitted that using the Portuguese alongside Mawson will again be an option to plug the gap left by Pierre’s absence after the defender picked up his tenth yellow card of the season against Carlisle last weekend.

He said: “Aaron’s a big player and one of the most consistent defenders in the division in my opinion. He’s going to be missed, definitely.

“He’s not been around for a couple of games due to suspension and concussion, but we’ve filled in for him with Sido coming in and playing centre-back with Danny Rowe (at right-back) or anything else that I’ve got up my sleeve.

“We’ll be looking at various players that can fill in for Aaron, and I think he will be a big miss but it’s time for people to step up and take their chance now.

“That’s what I’ll be looking at and you wouldn’t be a professional footballer if you couldn’t take your chance when it comes along. I’ll be looking for people to step up.”

One of the players who the Wycombe manager is likely to call upon is Rotherham loanee Danny Rowe.

The 19-year-old has made 15 appearances for Wanderers this season, six of which have come from the bench, but he hasn’t seen a minute of competitive action since the Boxing Day draw against Luton Town.

Despite a lack of match action, Ainsworth said he will be in the frame to start against Graham Westley’s side.

“Danny’s obviously played centre half, centre midfield and right-back for me,” he said. “He’s a utility player that can play in various positions. He comes into the equation with all the other options that I mentioned. I’ll be making the decision over the next day or two in training over who I think will do best there and we’ll take it from there.”

Max Kretzschmar is the only definite absentee for the hosts, with a thigh injury keeping the midfielder out, although Ainsworth did admit that one or two players were struggling with knocks but he wouldn’t disclose who.

The Blues boss also suggested he may struggle to fill the bench for what he expects to be a “full-blooded” contest against Stevenage at Adams Park.

He said: “They’ve lost one or two through injury, but I know Graham Westley he’s a professional, he will be coming here to win the points.

“He’s had good results with Stevenage in the past and we want to make sure that we stand up to everything they throw at us because they can be physical and they mirror their manager very well on that side of things.

“But we stand up to those things, we’ve done it all season, and I think with the league as tight as it is it should be a real good occasion.”