Gareth Ainsworth hails Wycombe’s achievement of League One safety

Posted Sunday, May 05, 2019 by PA

Gareth Ainsworth was quick to underline Wycombe’s achievement of staying in Sky Bet League One after they rounded off the season with a 1-0 win over Fleetwood.

Wycombe were already safe going into the final day, and Joe Jacobson’s strike from a corner ensured they would finish the season with a win.

And after Scunthorpe and Plymouth were among the teams joining Bradford in going down, Ainsworth was eager to point out just what his side had achieved.

He said: “I think it is a huge achievement. You talk about Bradford, Scunthorpe and Plymouth. Huge clubs.

“Walsall are one of the smaller clubs but there are three huge clubs who have gone down.

“They are bigger than Wycombe and Fleetwood.

“Our name could have easily been in there so to survive and compete in this league (Fleetwood boss) Joey (Barton) has done a tremendous job.

“Big respect for the Fleetwood chairman. He has put a lot of money in to get them where they are.

“Respect to my board and my chairman. They have backed me to the hilt but they have not got the same resources.

“We fight hard and we are in League One next year which is all that matters.”

As is becoming tradition on the final day, Ainsworth turned out in red cowboy boots, explaining the reason for his unusual fashion choice after the game.

He said: “The cowboy boots come out on the last day of the season. They are red snakeskin.

“I wore them last season when we got promoted and we won 1-0. Now I think if I ever need a scrappy 1-0, I know what shoes to put on.”

Despite this defeat, Fleetwood finished in the top half of the table, in 11th, with Lewie Coyle, on-loan from Leeds the star performer for them.

And manager Joey Barton explained after the game that he was keen to keep hold of Coyle, who was given the captaincy.

When asked if that would be Coyle’s final game for the Cod Army, Barton replied: “Hopefully not. We would love to keep him.

“He has been outstanding but it could be, because we do not own him at this moment in time.

“If I had a chance I’d love to get him back because he is a credit to his profession, his family and he is first class in everything he does. He has been here for two years on loan now.

“I thought it would be a nice touch before the game to ask Paddy (Madden) who had captained against Sunderland if we could give it to him.

“I thought it was a nice touch. It was us saying to Coyley ‘we hold you in such high esteem that we want you to lead our team’.”