Friday 3 April 2015 19:37, UK
Gareth Ainsworth insists there will be no panic in the camp despite promotion-chasing Wycombe slipping up at home to Oxford.
Looking to keep pace with fellow automatic promotion contenders Burton and Shrewsbury, Wycombe found themselves two down at the break after goals from Kemar Roofe and Danny Rose. Paul Hayes pulled a goal back but Roofe's second confirmed victory despite Aaron Holloway's late strike. The result leaves Wycombe four points clear of fourth-placed Bury, who have a game in hand. But Ainsworth played down the 3-2 loss and does not feel it will prove a major blow to their promotion chances. "The result is not a huge dent at all given our ambitions. There are no nerves and no worry from me at all," he said. "We set out to get 55 points, we did it. We then went after the play-offs, we did it. And now we're after promotion. "It's been a great season and a real success. Let's finish the job, it would be fantastic. "Fair play to Oxford. They've changed almost their entire team since we played them at their place and a manager needs to time to blend a side together "It looks like Michael Appleton has got a good outfit there and they seem in a false league position for me. "But coupled with that we were poor. Good in fits and starts but not consistent enough and you get punished against sides like Oxford. "We tried to play a little too much in wrong areas on a tricky pitch." Roofe and Rose did the damage early on, combining on both goals to give the visitors the lead. Hayes replied on 48 minutes before Roofe stroked home his second for the win, despite Holloway making things interesting in stoppage time. Oxford manager Michael Appleton insists there is still plenty to play for this season despite his side now sitting 10 points clear of the relegation places and 12 off the play-offs. "I asked the lads to produce a performance that would make the fans look forward to our remaining games because we want to finish the season strongly," he said. "We sat down a while ago and made a pact that we would do that and make people feel confident going forward. "We felt that Wycombe would hold a high line and we were looking to get in behind. Certainly in the first half it worked a treat. "Being a narrow pitch it allows Wycombe to get about people and it's worked for them on many occasions but we picked the right options more than the wrong ones. "After that first half we should have gone on to win the game quite comfortably. We missed a couple of great opportunities to put the game to bed after half-time and late on we switched off and it made the game a little but edgy."
