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Ainsworth hails Hayes impact

Image: Gareth Ainsworth: Hayes the man

Gareth Ainsworth claims Paul Hayes was the first man he wanted to bring to Wycombe after his equaliser in 3-1 win at Stevenage.

Hayes has been a regular scorer at his various clubs and his strike in the 40th minute set the foundation for the Chairboys to claim their third win in four league games this season. Ainsworth said: "We had all those spaces available but the one man I really wanted to get in was Paul Hayes because he epitomises what we are. "He's a level-headed guy and there was a lot of interest in him this summer but he wanted to come here. "Since he's walked through the door everyone has made him feel part of Wycombe, part of the new Wycombe, which is honest, together and hard-working. "Not many people would have seen the start to our season coming and the big thing for me is losing 2-0 in midweek to Tranmere and then coming here and getting back on track today. "Whether that would have been a great win or a slim win didn't matter, getting back on track was what we wanted to do. "They've done a real good, professional job today and I couldn't be happier - it was superb to see everyone fighting for the cause." Stevenage went ahead after 32 minutes when Darius Charles successfully challenged Wycombe goalkeeper Matt Ingram before hooking into an open goal. Hayes levelled the match in superb fashion when he teed up Paris Cowan-Hall's cross for himself before firing into the top corner. Wycombe completed the comeback just before half-time when Peter Murphy stole in front of Boro 'keeper Sam Beasant from Steven Craig's free-kick before Matt McClure sealed all three points late on. Stevenage boss Graham Westley said: "We were always going to have a couple of horrible days in the evolution of this team. "When you've got a new group of players learning each other and when you've got a new team coming together stuff goes wrong sometimes and the team can't find its way back. "It's only when you get back together in the dressing room at the end where you look at what's gone on and you talk through the problems and the possible solutions. "It's only then that you understand where the answers lie. "Today was one of those days - we got a lot wrong, which we also did at Southend last week, but we showed on Tuesday at Plymouth that we can be a good side. "In the end we've gone 2-1 down to two poorly defended set pieces and when you're a new side you can see there are some lads who looked uncertain."

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