Sunday morning call helps Ainsworth and Wycombe strike the right chord

Posted Wednesday, January 29, 2020 by PA

Gareth Ainsworth believes his side’s Sunday session on the training ground made all the difference as Wycombe kept Blackpool at bay to triumph 2-1 at Adams Park.

The Chairboys had won only once in their last seven games heading into the Tuesday night clash, dropping out of the automatic promotion places they had occupied for so long.

But without a game at the weekend, having been knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round, Ainsworth decided to shift around his preparations ahead of the Blackpool fixture and the tactic seemed to work wonders in a game delayed by over an hour.

“I don’t usually do it but I got the boys in on Sunday to make it like a Thursday, Friday, and obviously with no game at the weekend, we prepared like we would in a week,” he explained.

“A fantastic win for the boys. I thought first half we were devastating going forward, I thought we played some fantastic stuff. We took from the training ground what we’ve been doing.

“I have to say they were superb going forward and I wanted them to replicate that today, and they did. Some real good moves and I felt we were well deserving of our 2-0 lead at half-time.

“I thought it could have been a little bit more if I’m honest, but then Blackpool responded late on. I don’t know how many players they’ve got over six-foot-three but we had a real tussle with some of those big lads and they were going very direct.

“They’ve got one back – it’s a soft goal, I’m really disappointed with that one – but overall the three points were the big thing tonight for Wycombe and I’m really pleased we got that.”

Despite the long delay due to a fan being taken ill in the stands, Wycombe burst out of the blocks to lead 2-0 inside 10 minutes.

Nick Freeman opened the scoring from an Alex Samuel cross before the provider turned scorer when he jinked his way through to slot home.

And though Leicester loanee Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored to make it tight with four minutes to go, Tangerines boss Simon Grayson was left to bemoan a pitiful first-half display.

“First half we never started the game, we allowed them to dominate and get the two early goals,” he said.

“We just didn’t deal with it for whatever reason, just did not start the game well enough.

“That can come down to a mental state from the players. Even our passing was slack, was wishy-washy.

“Second half, at least the players had a go. We looked a different team, got on the front foot more, got more opportunities and really they were hanging on in the last 20 minutes of that game.”