Wanderers showed they can do the ugly side of the game equally as well as they can exhibit the beautiful side after a performance against Luton which Gareth Ainsworth hailed as “complete”.

The Sky cameras were present at the Prostate Cancer UK Stadium to see Blues storm into a 3-2 half-time lead thanks to some flowing football which included an entry for goal of the season from Alfie Mawson.

And when John Still’s side piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser Wycombe’s defensive resilience and battling qualities came to the fore.

Ainsworth said: “I think we’ve had more shots on their goal than they’ve had on ours, even though they had a lot of possession and came onto us in the second half.

“Sam Wood’s gutted not to score in the second half. I felt we created chances that we could have capitalised on. We did limit their shots on our goal but Matt Ingram’s only had to make one fantastic save which he did well.

“It was a complete performance. An attacking performance first half and defensive, solid performance second half.”

While the Blues boss had no complaints about the attacking display from his team, he did have some quarrels with the ease at which they allowed Luton to score their two goals.

Elliot Lee was not picked up on two occasions and he punished the visitors both times with neat finishes from inside the area after balls into the box had not been cleared.

“I’m disappointed with the two goals that we conceded. One is a set play and one is a hopeful ball into the box that we haven’t dealt with well. We’ll work on that. I’m not happy with that,” he said.

“To score three goals away from home you want to win that 3-0. We did let some sloppy goals in tonight, but we did the damage and we kept strong. In that second half we knew we were going to take an onslaught because this is Luton Town.

“They’re a big club with a big squad and they’ve got a good manager, but we defended well with character, fitness and togetherness. We changed shape about three times. I think Luton changed shape about five times and it was a real tactical battle second half.”

Those Wanderers fans who didn’t tune in to see their team pick up the points that moved them four points above fourth place Bury in League Two will have missed a sublime goal from Mawson.

The centre-half picked the ball up on the halfway line before advancing and after a sharp one-two with Paul Hayes he sent the ball arrowing into the bottom corner like a top marksman.

Ainsworth said: “It’s something we haven’t practiced in training so it was out of the blue, but Alfie’s got that in the bag. Alfie had the easy part.

“The little dink over the centre half’s head was the difficult part, but who better to do that than Paul Hayes.

“Creating and scoring goals is what he does and Alfie’s there to defend which is what he did second half alongside his young counterpart Aaron Pierre. I thought they were immense again and they’re just going from strength to strength.”