SUPPORTERS of the Blues are off to Cardiff for the start of the season, after just missing out on going there in May.

Wycombe Wanderers had a tantalising glimpse of being at the FA Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, only to see their hopes dashed against Liverpool in the semi-final.

Now Wycombe are kicking off the Nationwide Second Division season against promotion favourites Cardiff City, with coach-loads of fans making the trip to the Welsh capital. By an amazing coincidence, Liverpool, as FA Cup winners, are also playing in Cardiff on the same weekend, against Manchester United in the Charity Shield.

Keith Blagbrough, secretary of the Official Wycombe Wanderers Supporters Association, said he was looking forward to the season.

He said: "I'm sure we can get into the play-offs providing we don't have the horrendous luck we have with injuries as we did last season."

Wycombe suffered an abysmal run of injuries to key players like Andy Rammell and Jermaine McSporran. This led to the amazing situation when Roy Essandoh, recruited from teletext, popped up to score the winner against Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter final.

Mr Blagbrough said: "The FA Cup run has risen expectations for this year and the team has now got to rise to these expectations."

The club is now looking for fans to pack Adams Park to the rafters and get behind the Blues after the team did so much to raise the profile of the town with its historic FA Cup run.

The Free Press, The Star's sister paper out tomorrow, is backing the Blues with a four-page supplement for the start of the season, plus regular reports and key interviews.