‘No getting carried away’, warns Gareth Ainsworth after 3-0 win for Wycombe

Posted Sunday, July 31, 2022 by PA

Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth refused to get carried away after a 3-0 win over Burton started their League One campaign in fine style.

Goals from David Wheeler, Anis Mehmeti and a stunning Josh Scowen half-volley gave last year’s play-off finalists the perfect start to their season.

The first goal came inside 10 minutes, with Scowen’s ball in behind the Burton defence met by Wheeler who poked home, before Mehmeti doubled the lead with a fine solo effort.

Scowen then made it three before half-time – his first Adams Park goal in seven and a half years after spells away at Barnsley, QPR and Sunderland – smashing home after a headed clearance fell to him on the edge of the area.

“It’s a good start, but that’s all it is,” said Ainsworth.

“There’s no getting carried away. We know what it takes to achieve in this league and we’re going to have to be on it week in, week out and hopefully we can get the results. One game doesn’t make a season, but it’s a nice start.

“I think it’s a nice barometer – yes we’re fit, yes we understand the tactics. But we’re going to have to do that when we come up against some big, big sides in this league.

“I’ve got the depth that I’ve wanted, but it’s now about keeping everyone fit and in the zone. Training this week has been really good, the boys have been really on it.

“I just wish the boys had kicked on in the second half and added a few more, but we’ll save them for next week.”

Meanwhile, Burton manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink admitted his side need to improve quickly after struggling throughout their opening match of the season.

He said: “If you’re going to start a first half like that then you’ve got no chance. We were second best.

“There are certain things that I want to see back that we have worked on in pre-season, and we didn’t see that. That’s the disappointment about it.

“All three goals came from a throw-in, and all get thrown into the number four, the midfielder (Dominic Gape). And we weren’t picking him up. That’s just not acceptable, we worked on that. That’s just lazy.

“We need to really look back at the game and look at the video and show them and we need to improve and really quickly. We will handle it. We will get better. We will get stronger.

“We will win matches. We will sort this out, I’m a big believer in that. But we need to sort it out quick. We may need to be a little bit harder to certain individuals, but we will sort it out.”