WANDERERS boss Gareth Ainsworth hailed his team’s incredible team spirit after seeing them hit the top of the table.


The manager says he sometimes has to kick the boys out of the building because they all want to stay together after training – playing pool, table tennis and keepy-uppy or sharing a coffee in the canteen.


He said: “It’s fantastic for me as the manager that we have developed that culture and everyone has got drawn into it. It didn’t come overnight. It took some hard work but we got our recruitment right and have a special group here.


“It’s almost a family culture here. It sounds like a cliché but that is how it is. We’ve got boys who ring each other on a regular basis and socialise together and that doesn’t happen at other clubs.


“It’s like a throwback to when I started as a player, team spirit and togetherness is everything. Your best friends were your teammates and we’ve got a little bit of that here.”


It hasn’t happened by accident. With a tiny budget, player recruitment – and that means getting the right characters as well as footballers – has been key.


Ainsworth said: “It’s not easy to become a Wycombe Wanderers player. You have to be of a special type. They have to fit in with our culture and our work ethic. We look deep into them and there’s a lot of criteria to go through before we sign someone. Some players we dismiss straight away because we know they won’t fit into the team culture that we’ve got here.


“The team has gelled really quickly like it did last year. We did our homework on the signings, we researched them and took our time, we didn’t jump into anything and it has really paid off. I can’t afford to take chances and jump into things. The players have got to fit the culture and if just one player didn’t it would have a big impact on this club because we’ve got so few players.


“I’m not surprised to be top of the table because I believe in the players I have signed and the squad I’ve put together but I am always looking over the shoulder at where the next hurdle or challenge is coming from and it is still very early in the season. Players and fans get excited by the league tables but managers don’t.”