Waddock pleased with the point (From Bucks Free Press)

Waddock pleased with the point

6:58pm Saturday 8th September 2012 in Sport By Lawrence Dunhill

GARY Waddock says his players deserve credit for grinding out a draw against an impressive Cheltenham Town side today.

And the Blues boss says injuries to several key players means it would be unfair to judge his side on recent performances.

Wanderers have lost Matt Bloomfield, Anthony Stewart and Sam Wood to injury since the start of the season, with Dennis Oli and Matt Spring now added to that list.

That has forced Waddock to blood youngsters such as Charles Dunne and Jesse Kewley-Graham, with the latter making his first professional start today.

Wycombe were outplayed for long periods during the 1-1 draw at Adams Park, but Waddock said afterwards: “We’ve lost a number of players in the early part of the season.

“So when you consider the team that we put out against York to where we are today, we’re a very different side. We’ve had to deal with that and as I said the players deserve a lot of credit today to grind out a result.

“It’s hard in terms of what the players have got to cope with but they’ve done well today.

“I’m not harping on about the injuries or making excuses - that’s where we are at this moment in time.

“I’m sure if any other club team in this division lost five, six, of their first team players they would find it hard also.

“It’s part of the game, we know that....We’re not making any excuses but today we rolled our sleeves up and got a valuable point.

“I think it’s fair to say we shouldn’t be judged on recent weeks.”

An inability to produce a single shot on target against the Robins was also a source of frustration for Waddock, who added: “We need to be working their goalkeeper, it was very difficult today because of the way we had to set up and the amount of possession Cheltenham had.

“When those opportunities come we have to pull the trigger. It’s something the players know... They have the responsibility once they’re over that white line to take that chance when it’s there for them.”

Asked if he was worried about how the season was developing, with four points from a possible 12 so far, Waddock said: “How many games are we in? And we’ve got a game in hand, and we’re getting them players back.... I’m not worried at all about it.”

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