Wycombe fans will remember, whether they like it or not, the heartbreak that came following their 1-0 defeat to Charlton in the play-off semi-finals last season, after they had spent so long fighting off high-spenders such as Birmingham and Wrexham for automatic promotion positions, but fell short after a stint of bad results, leaving them fifth.

So, reflecting on Wycombe’s shortcomings last season, what can they do to go that step further in their attempts to have Championship football return to Adams Park?

Wanderers seemed to struggle against teams who were higher-up in the table, losing four of four games against Wrexham and Birmingham who eventually took the automatic positions. They also lost one of two games against Stockport and Leyton Orient, as well as both of their league games against Charlton.

While three of five teams mentioned before are no longer there, teams such as Luton, Plymouth and Cardiff would be looking for an immediate return to the Championship, and if Wycombe want to fight off those teams, and others who have recruited well this Summer, they will have to find that extra gear and take three points wherever they can. But how?

Following Matt Bloomfield’s departure and the appointment of Mike Dodds, fans could tell there was a difference in the way the blues played. Under Bloomfield, Wycombe played free-flowing football, putting five past Stockport away in what was one of the greatest games of the season. However, Mike Dodds’ Wycombe seemed to lack an attacking threat, especially against the higer-performing teams. No-one will forget the league game against Charlton at home in which they were thrashed 4-0, as well as the game against Shrewsbury at home, a relegation-threatened side with one of the worst defenses in the league, but Wycombe failed to score.

One of the criticisms that Mike Dodds recieved was that there wasn’t enough support for the striker in the middle of the pitch. Whether that was Richard Kone or Dan Udoh, it seemed they were completely outmuscled in the box. However, when this was changed, an example being Rotherham away, in which Richard Kone and Adam Reach played upfront together, Wycombe scored three.

This seems to be something in which Wycombe are also looking to improve on in terms of recruitment, bringing in the likes of Bradley Fink, James Tilley and Junior Quitirna to Adams Park within the past few weeks.

On the other side of the pitch, Sonny Bradley, Caleb Taylor and Joe Low seemed to be an immovable object. All three of these players are no longer at Wycombe, however, Anders Hagelskjaer, Dan Casey and Taylor Allen are able to fill in those empty positions very well.

Overall, Wycombe Wanderers have recruited extremely well this Summer transfer window and seem to be in no mood to stop as they continue to target players such as Luca Connell and Connor Taylor in able to strengthen their side as they hope to do better than last campaign.

But this isn’t the only thing that could play a role in Wycombe’s push this season, factors such as returning to Marlow Road, facilities only 2.6 miles away from Adams Park could only help Wanderers. Aditionally, it was announced that Wycombe have added to their first-team coaching staff, recruiting people who do various roles such as Technical Coach, Head of Analysis, First-Team Recruitment Analysis and Head of Physical Performance.

It seems that the board are more than happy to fix what went wrong last season, and time will only tell what’s on the horizon for Wycombe Wanderers.