Joe Jacobson admits having reservations about joining Wycombe Wanderers in the summer, but insists those doubts were dispelled upon meeting manager Gareth Ainsworth.

The left-back says he was wary of walking into a relegation battle with a team who were the bookies’ favourites for the drop this season after his release from tomorrow’s opponents Shrewsbury in June.

Far from being in a dogfight to avoid finishing in the bottom two, Jacobson and Wanderers head into the meeting with his previous employers just three points off the top – a position which the Welshman didn’t expect to be in when he signed for the Blues.

“You don’t want to join a club that’s going to be in a relegation battle whichever league it’s in and where they finished last season I had to think about it a little bit,” he said.

“After speaking to the gaffer and seeing how he wanted to go about things and what he told me in the summer I didn’t think they’d be in a relegation battle at all. Seeing some of the players he signed in the summer made me think that we might have a little go at this and see where it takes us.

“Being in this position has probably exceeded our expectations a bit, but as soon as I came into the club the way I saw everyone playing and the set-up of the place I knew they were in a false position last year.”

The 27-year-old has been promoted from League Two twice before – with Bristol Rovers in 2007 and with the Shrews in 2012 – and it’s the latter success which has drawn comparisons from Jacobson with Wanderers current campaign.

“The Bristol one was a bit different because I was on loan and I was only young so it was a bit different for me. I didn’t really feel, even though I’d played the last ten or 12 games, that I was too much a part of the team.

“The Shrewsbury one was a great season and there are a lot of similarities to this season. Some of the games where we’re nicking points at the end, late winners, little bits of luck and things like that. They make you think that this could be a great year for us.

“The way we’re playing shows that we’re not a horrible, ugly team and that we’re going about things the right way. Even though they’re slightly different I think you can see similarities between the two and I think if we go up this season it will be a bigger achievement than the other times.

“I think those clubs were favourites top get promotion, but at the start of the season we were favourites to go down. To be in this position would make it the biggest achievement of all.”

Jacobson has been an ever present in the Wycombe back four this season, playing in every single game and providing an attacking outlet which has garnered three goals so far – goals which will be contenders for goal of the season at the club’s awards dinner.

The defender says he has thrived under the leadership of Ainsworth and believes the team’s strong season has been built on a foundation of mutual trust from players and management.

He said: “I’ve played against him a few times in my career and I know how he is and what he brings, and he’s bought that to his coaching. He wants us to play the same way as he did and it’s worked really well.

“Like any player, as long as you’re playing and you’re doing well then you enjoy your football. For me it’s been great. He’s let me express myself, he’s helped me out, he wants me to get on the ball and go forward and that suits me perfectly.

“He gives all the boys a lot of confidence to go out and play. He knows his lower leagues pretty well so he knows what it takes to get results and the boys trust him and the way we’ve played on the pitch shows what we’ve done.”