Wycombe Wanderers vs Morecambe
Adams Park, Saturday 7^th August, 3pm

Wanderers will be looking to get the new campaign off to a flyer on Saturday when they entertain Morecambe.

The Chairboys are looking to bounce straight back into npower League 1, and are among the early favourites to take the npower League 2 title, not least because of their impressive pre-season form.

Gary Waddock has had a busy summer in the transfer market and his new-look squad have gelled well. The arrivals of Ben Strevens and Scott Rendell have added extra potency up front, while Nikki Bull - regarded by many as the finest keeper in the league while at former club Aldershot - will be difficult to beat between the sticks.

Morecambe narrowly missed out on automatic promotion last season and they'll be desperate to put their play-off woes behind them after being thrashed 7-2 on aggregate by eventual winners Dagenham & Redbridge.

Shrimps boss Sammy Mcllroy will be hoping 18-goal hit man Phil Jevons can recreate the form he showed last season after his loan move from Huddersfield was made permanent in the summer. However, delays to the construction of their new stadium have hampered their pre-season preparations, which reached a nadir with a 5-0 defeat at non-league Barrow.

Morecambe's away form is patchy: they didn't pick up a win on the road last season until mid-November. Their last visit to Adams Park - coincidentally the opening game of the Blues' 2008/09 promotion winning season - ended in a 1-1 draw; David Artell cancelling out a spectacular first-half effort from Lewwis Spence.

Only Leon Johnson remains from the Wanderers team who drew on that day, as Gary Waddock's Blues revolution continues to gather pace.

The manager admits he knows his starting XI for the opener, but said he had to make some tough decisions:

"It was very difficult, but that's the way I like it," he told Chairboys Player. "It's about the squad, not just about Saturday's game. Players will be disappointed, but they can have a major effect on the game by coming off the bench.

"Preparations have been good, they've worked hard in pre-season, and now it's upon us and we're all looking forward to it.

"We know we've got tough opposition, Morecambe have done well over the last couple of seasons, so it's a good benchmark to see where we are."

Call 01494 441118 or click here to book your tickets for Saturday's clash with the Shrimps.

Build-up

 Gary: 'I know my starting XI'
 Backstage with Blooms - Dave Winfield
 Extended Chelsea action
 Blooms' blog: part one
 Bill's back!
 New season, new ball
 Strevs strives for start
 Fans vote to ban vuvuzelas
 Gaz: 'It's a real honour'
 Westy returns for anniversary
 Gary: It's time to impress

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Opposition View:

Wycombe: The start of the season has come too soon for new signing Andy Sandell and Stuart Beavon, while Leon Johnson is a doubt with a dead leg he picked up in the win at Farnborough last week. Otherwise Gary Waddock has a fully fit squad to choose from.

Leon is a doubt with a dead leg

Morecambe: Jim Bentley is likely to be fit after missing much of pre-season with a virus as is Laurence Wilson who looks to have shaken off a knock he picked up against Blackburn. New signings Paul Scott and Chris McCready are both expected to start in defence, while Sammy McIlroy could also hand a debut to Stuart Hendrie, brother of former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie.