Ainsworth not getting carried away after fifth successive home win

Posted Sunday, November 25, 2018 by PA

Gareth Ainsworth was full of praise for his players as Wycombe recorded their fifth consecutive home league win by downing a spirited Shrewsbury side 3-2 at Adams Park.

A fast-paced opening half yielded a 2-1 advantage for the Chairboys as excellent strikes from Adam El-Abd and Joe Jacobson cancelled out Aaron Holloway’s opener.

Alex Samuel extended the lead in the second half and despite Fejiri Okenabirhie pulling one back minutes later the Shrews couldn’t level.

“I thought Alex Samuel led our line so well, he did superbly, and that gave everyone in our team an impetus,” commented Ainsworth.

“We worked all week on how we can hurt them and I thought the boys did really well on that.

“I thought Curtis Thompson played so well in midfield. When they (Shrewsbury) changed the midfield shape, we changed our midfield shape, and Curtis mopped up so much pressure.

“I’m really, really so proud of the boys’ effort today, and the crowd were also superb.

“We’ve gone into the top half of the table, which is fantastic – however we must not get carried away.

“We’ve now got a tough trip on Tuesday (at Accrington), but I’ve got excellent players on the bench like Craig Mackail-Smith, Paris Cowan-Hall and Scott Kashket who are being left out at the moment.”

Shrewsbury opened the scoring on four minutes – Holloway’s header skipping off the turf to beat David Stockdale’s despairing dive.

Wycombe replied when El-Abd expertly turned and volleyed into the bottom corner in the 11th minute.

Chairboys defender Jacobson angled a stunning drive into the top corner on minute 40 for a 2-1 half-time lead.

Samuel increased the Chairboys’ advantage in the 71st minute via a rasping low drive, with Okenabirhie slotting an effort inside Stockdale’s far post minutes later in a match that left Shrews boss Danny Coyne conceding that Wycombe were better on the day.

“I thought they matched us up,” said Coyne. “They fought for everything today, and as a result they got their just rewards.

“With Wycombe pressing like they did today, you’ve got to be braver on the ball.

“I can’t fault the effort of the lads, they really put another shift in, but I thought Wycombe deserved the win today.

“Wycombe are a really well-organised side. They work very hard and are quite direct with their use of the ball – we knew what they were going to do.

“They press and constantly put you under pressure, they got three goals today, and all credit to them.

“Joe’s (Jacobson) finish was excellent and Adam’s (El-Abd) finish was great too. Joe’s was special, he just cut in from the wide area and put it in the top corner – there is not much you can do about that, so you have to say (it was) a great goal.”