Wycombe Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth was delighted to finally to put to bed a three-year winless run on Tuesday nights at Adams Park against Exeter City

With the match locked at 1-1 and the game ticking into its 102nd minute Aaron Pierre tumbled under a challenge in the box prompting the referee to point to the spot.

The stadium fell silent and it seemed to take an age before Paul Hayes stepped up to slam home the winner with the last kick of the game and end Wanderers’ three-year winless run on Tuesday nights on home turf.

Ainsworth said: “What a way to bury the jinx of Tuesday nights at home. It’s just a proud moment for all the boys because they have dug so deep tonight.

“We’ve lost so many players in the game, we had so much adversity against us in the game and we’re at our best when we’re against it. I’m speechless at some of the stuff.

“The silence in the stadium just before Paul Hayes took the penalty is something I’ve never seen at Wycombe Wanderers before and that was an eerie moment. To have his nerve and, as a captain would do, step up and slot that home for the points is fantastic.”

Hayes’ last minute heroics came at the end of a second half in which Blues had been thoroughly outplayed, with Paul Tisdale’s team looking the most likely side to fashion a winner.

Wanderers thought their best chance to win the game had passed them by when man-of-the-match Sam Saunders could only find the roof of the net with a lob when clean through on goal after 96 minutes.

The on loan Brentford man opened the scoring with a classy finish early on, and Ainsworth was pleased that the 31-year-old’s failure to bag a second did not prove costly.

“How long ago does that feel?” the Blues boss said of Saunders’ seventh minute strike.

“It feels like another game it was so long ago. What a move and that’s what he gives you Sam Saunders. He’s created two or three great opportunities for himself and he’s a great player to have in this squad.

“He finished with some real finesse but he’s got that in the bag and we know Sam Saunders. We were pleased we could bring him here. He’ll be disappointed with the one he missed there at the end but Hayesy stepped up and got the points.”

With three games left Wanderers are third in League Two, five points clear of fourth place, and injuries are beginning to look like their main obstacle in achieving automatic promotion.

Aaron Holloway limped off early on and Ainsworth was forced into another change before half an hour had been played when substitute Matt McClure had to be replaced also.

Alfie Mawson and Nico Yennaris also received lengthy treatment in the second half and the Wycombe manager admits he may have to a depleted squad to pick from against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.

He said: “It seemed like everything was going against us in the first half as well as with Alfie Mawson and Nico Yennaris [in the second].

“There are lads out there that are strapped together and held together by bandages at the end. It was really, really important that we dug deep and got the win.

“The medical team have got a bit of a job on now. We’ll pick the best team we can and hopefully we can go to AFC Wimbledon on Saturday and get the points again.”