Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth vows not to panic after defeat at Accrington

Posted Sunday, February 27, 2022 by PA

Gareth Ainsworth says he will not panic after Wycombe’s 3-2 loss at Accrington made it seven Sky Bet League One games without a win.

Promotion-chasing Wycombe took the lead with Sam Vokes side-footing home on 13 minutes before Stanley equalised after 20 minutes through Korede Adedoyin.

Two minutes later the Chairboys were back in front through Sullay Kaikai’s powerful header before Stanley once again drew level on 48 minutes, Ross Sykes rifling the ball home.

Accrington celebrated the winner on 64 minutes with half-time substitute Harry Pell’s header finding the back of the net.

Dominic Gape hit the post for eighth-placed Wycombe in the dying minutes and Anis Mehmeti missed a great chance from close range before Stanley defender Mitch Clark was shown a red card in the 97th minute for a late challenge.

“It was a really poor second half, we definitely can’t let teams step on us like that,” said Wycombe boss Ainsworth.

“They have changed their style and they are the land of the giants and go direct and that caused us problems.

“We conceded two goals from set-pieces on Tuesday and have conceded another two from set-pieces.

“That’s tough to take but we have got to score at the end as well, that was a great chance, we should have made it 3-3.

“I have been on bad runs before but we can’t have to score three goals away from home to get a point. Two should be good enough to win a game.

“The boys need picking up but we know not to panic. We just need to get back to winning ways.”

Stanley’s home form is good – they are unbeaten in eight at the Wham Stadium – and, after back-to-back away defeats, boss John Coleman was relieved.

“I am delighted with the response we showed,” he said. “It was one of the worst games of football I have seen in the first half, both teams were low on confidence with not winning games, trying to get the ball forward as quickly as possible and making mistakes which accounted for the goals.

“After half-time we tried to pass it better, commit more men forward and we made two changes to give us the impetus. Sometimes substitutions work, sometimes they don’t and today they did.

“We got back to playing how I know we can and we scored some great goals.

“The only bitter taste is the sending off at the end. The referee held up six minutes and then, in the 97th, there was the challenge, a debatable red card, when we shouldn’t even have been on the pitch.

“I feel for Mitch as he will miss three games and he has been our best player over the last couple of months.

“But the win was needed. Our home form is important as it’s got us into the situation where we need two wins for safety but we have got to get them and won’t take it for granted.”