JACK HUNT reckons Jordan Rhodes more than merits his nomination for a second npower League I player of the month award this season.
Huddersfield Town’s 22-goal scoring star, who took the accolade for October, aims to strike for the fifth match running at Wycombe tonight.
He’ll be going toe to toe with Wanderers’ on-loan Fulham frontman Marcello Trotta, who has also been nominated for the December prize.
Sheffield United’s Neil Collins and Stevenage’s Michael Bostwick are the others who coud land the award, with the winner announced this morning.
And right-back Hunt reckons his fellow 21-year-old Rhodes has a great chance after seeing him score six goals during the month.
“Jordan’s scoring ratio both this season and last means he deserves all the praise he’s getting, said Hunt of the Scotland international who also netted at Notts County on Monday.
“He’s produced some great finishes, and he also has the knack of being in the right place at the right time, as shown down at Notts.”
While beaten only twice in the league this season, Lee Clark’s fifth-placed side have drawn three of their last four matches.
They’re going for a double over Gary Waddock’s Wycombe after winning 3-0 at the Galpharm in August, when Alan Lee (2) and Gary Roberts got the goals.
Third-bottom Wanderers have already lost seven home games this season, and are aiming to avoid a third defeat running after going down to Stevenage and Bournemouth.
But frontmen Stuart Beavon and Trotta pose an obvious threat as Town try to tighten up at the back after conceding 10 goals in their last six games.
Former Weymouth player Beavon tops the Wycombe goal chart with 11 while Italian teenager Trotta has six, including a hat trick in Wanderers’ last win, against Exeter on Boxing Day.
Signed from Napoli in 2009, he has topped 25 goals in each of Fulham’s last two youth campaigns and has notched nine times for the Cottagers’ reserves this season.
At the other end of the age range, Wanderers have experience in the shape of 38-year-old skipper Gareth Ainsworth, the former QPR, Wimbledon, Port Vale and Preston midfielder.
Central midfielder Matt Bloomfield has been a mainstay since joining from Ipswich in 2003 and was a key man in last season’s League II promotion success.
Centre-back James Tunnicliffe, from Brighton, and midfielder Joel Grant, from Crewe, were added over the summer.
And as well as defender Grant Basey, who has just completed a permanent move from Peterborough, Waddock can also call on MK Dons loan winger Anthony McNamee.
“We respect Wycombe, like we do every opponent,” continued Hunt. “But we’re going there aiming for three points.
“In our last two matches (home to Carlisle and away at Notts), we have created more than enough chances to have won rather than drawn both.
“We should have a few more wins than we do, but it’s pointless dwelling on the past, and we know we’re in a good position with plenty to play for.”
