Gareth Ainsworth was pleased to leave the One Call Stadium with a point on Saturday after watching his Wanderers side endure a tough afternoon against Mansfield.

The Blues had Matt Ingram to thank for their goalless draw against the Stags as the keeper put together his own highlight reel with a catalogue of fine saves to thwart the home side.

And when Mansfield did manage to beat the 21-year-old they were thwarted by the woodwork on two occasions as Wanderers held on to take a draw and extend their unbeaten run to ten league games.

The Chairboys haven’t been beaten since their televised clash with Burton Albion in November, and Ainsworth hailed the resilience of his players in avoiding defeat once again on Saturday.

He said: “I think you’ll see teams come here in the future and not get many points from this place. They’re battling for their lives. The pitch was awful.

“I thought the referee, in my opinion, made a few dodgy decisions and didn’t help. It was a little bit bitty, but a point away from home in any division is good. Obviously being top of the league people will expect us to come to places like this and for it to be a walkover.

“Far from it. It was a real gutsy performance from a good team. It’s two weeks running now that we’ve had to contend with a pitch like this. I’m looking forward to getting back to Adams Park next week and hopefully getting the ball down and playing a bit of football.”

In a game which was short on attacking action for the visitors, the 372 travelling Blues fans were made to watch on as the Wanderers number one kept the home side at bay.

Ingram denied Vadaine Oliver with a superb one-handed save to kick-start a ten minute period before half-time in which the away side were rocking.

Oliver was again denied by a sprawling stop from Ingram before Michael Raynes was also denied twice as the keeper displayed why he may be the next home grown talent to earn a move up the Football League pyramid.

Ainsworth revelled in his keeper’s performance, saying: “That’s what he’s there for. Obviously I rate him highly and I keep saying that he’s definitely one of the best keepers in the lower divisions.

“It’s fantastic to have him. A clean sheet, the back five have stepped up again and we’ve scored a lot of goals this year but when we haven’t we have a clean sheet backing it up.

“Like I said, I’m really pleased with a point; it keeps the unbeaten run going – one of the longest ones in the country – which is really important to me. It’s a point at a tough place against a team that’s facing a relegation battle. They’re going to be like that against everyone every week. Some big teams will get turned over here.”

Astonishingly Blues could have been taking all three points back to Buckinghamshire with almost the final kick of the ball as substitute Matt McClure found himself in the box with just the keeper to beat.

The striker had only been on a for a couple of minutes, though, and chipped the ball tamely at Adam Smith, but Ainsworth was more than content with his side’s hard earned point.

“It’s caught him cold,” he said. “Matty will stick them away in training and stick them away in games and there’s more to come from him.

“Like I say, it’s a good battling performance away from home. If you draw your away games and win your home games then you’re onto a winner. That’s what we intend to do next week to back this performance up.”