Will Norris replaced Number One Mikli Van Sas against Barnsley, as new manager Michael Duff sought to shuffle his deck of cards and find a winning formula with the Chairboys.

While the Chairboys fought back from 0-2 down to salvage a 2-2 draw with the Tykes, this can be in no way be attributed to the performance of Will Norris in the net.

While the first goal was a mistake from center back Connor Taylor and a clinical finish from young winger Reyes Cleary, Norris was caught flatfooted for the second, as Keillor-Dunn fired into the roof of the net to make it 2-0.

He did, however, make two more saves, but it was his distribution that will concern Wycombe fans greatly.

Out of the 33 passes Norris attempted, he made just 12 of them, most concerning was his 2/22 long balls made accurately, extremely worrying for a manager who wants his keeper to play the ball long to create attacking situations.

The choice to play Norris, too is curious given the ability and presence of Mikki Van Sas in the backline.

While the 21 year old has made a few errors, so does every young player. Van Sas, however, has the potential to be a very strong player for the future for Wycombe.

However, in the here and now Van Sas has also proven an excellent presence on the ball. One of his long balls created the goal for Fred Onyedinma in Wycombe’s 2-1 loss to Peterborough United.

Statistically too he excels compared to Norris. He manages 72.9% of his passes and 41.1% of his long balls accurately, compared to Norris who managed 50.1% pass accurately and 29% long ball accuracy in the 24/25 season for Wycombe.

Van Sas’ ability to play long would be an asset to Michael Duff, especially considering he often asks the keeper to play long into the striker or beyond for the wingers to run onto.

While his shotstopping may need work, considering his age this is something that can be worked on and improved on time, while asking a 32 year old Norris to dramatically improve his distribution is unlikely.

It was a curious role of the dice from Michael Duff, and one that may have hurt the team today as they looked to break Barnsley’s defence through Norris.