Gareth Ainsworth says his young Wycombe Wanderers side must learn from their painful 3-0 defeat at Oxford United if they are to survive in the game.

The Chairboys were outplayed by their League One bound local rivals and the loss brought to a close a disappointing end to a campaign which has floundered towards its conclusion.

Ainsworth though insists his players must learn from the mistakes of not only Saturday’s defeat but their poor run of form towards the end of the campaign.

“They [the players] have got to learn from today, if you don’t you get left behind and you don’t have a career in football. That is how brutal it is,” Ainsworth explained after Saturday’s defeat.

“Players haven’t reached their potential this season. All in all we went out to get 61 points and ended out with 64.

“People will say ‘it’s okay we have done more than we expected’, but being honest I expected just that little bit more and I was gutted the last eight games have been more of a whimper than anything.”

A youthful squad means Ainsworth can be hopeful his side will take the required steps needed to learn from the mistakes of the closing months of the season.

The Blues manager also believes some of the players have been tested in a way their limited experience has not readied them for, and concedes he is still learning himself.

It is a fair point to make and despite being in charge of Wycombe for 200 matches Ainsworth, who turned 43 today, is still a young manager.

Ainsworth said: “Some of the older players do feel it more and the young boys come in and haven’t got experience. You are asking them to do things that maybe their years are not ready for.

“Again I am learning as a manager and I will be rebuilding in the summer the way I think we need to rebuild.”