Wanderers exited the Checkatrade Trophy at the group stage after a 1-0 loss to Swindon Town at the County Ground.

Matt Preston headed home the only goal of the game with three minutes remaining, while the visitors suffered another defensive setback with Adam El-Abd being forced off through injury

Manager Gareth Ainsworth named himself on the bench while Yves Ma-Kalambay was handed a debut in goal and Luke O’Nien, Matt Bloomfield, Paris Cowan-Hall and Dayle Southwell were given the opportunity to get vital minutes under their belts.

Early on, Ma-Kalambay routinely held a free-kick from Paul Mullin while Cowan-Hall flashed a shot wide under pressure from just inside the area, before Ebere Eze drilled over the top after juggling the ball neatly 15 yards out.

At the other end, Kaiyne Woolery was caught in two minds as he raced onto a through-ball and opted to place it beyond Ma-Kalambay with the outside of his right boot rather than strike it with power, and saw the ball go wide

The visitors stormed back and Cowan-Hall had a shot saved and Eze curled one wide, both from distance.

Robins substitute Harry Smith, the hero of the league game for Swindon 10 days previously, fizzed a shot just wide of the far stick as chances began to present themselves for both sides.

More woe came for Wycombe just after when El-Abd hurt himself whilst challenging Smith and Marcus Bean was required to come on in his place in the centre of defence.

Swindon’s second substitute John Goddard let fly from 20 yards but was denied by Ma-Kalambay, and the keeper tipped the same player’s shot behind for a corner, from which Keshi Anderson hooked a loose ball over the top from close range.

But there were only three minutes left on the clock when Preston broke the deadlock, losing his marker to send a bullet header past Ma-Kalambay from an inswinging free-kick.

Wanderers applied late pressure in a bid to find an equaliser to take the game to penalties, with Eze’s low drive being saved in the finals seconds, but the defeat sees Wycombe out of the competition at the group stage, with still one game to play.