Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth believes one sloppy moment cost the Blues dearly in their 1-0 defeat to Accrington Stanley.

The Chairboys kept promotion chasing Stanley at arm’s length until the 78th minute when Mark Hughes turned in from close range to seal all three points for the visitors.

The goal came from a rebound after Benjamin Siegrist had done superbly to tip Josh Windass’ excellent free kick onto the post.

Ainsworth was left to rue a goal which he clearly felt was avoidable and meant Wycombe’s final home game of the season ended in defeat.

He said: “We didn’t follow up [Windass’ shot]. It is alright doing it in training but you need to do it in games.

“You have to be switched on mentally and physically for 90 minutes if you want to play at a higher level and even if you want to win games in League Two.

“I have told the boys that, and I didn’t want to give the boys any pelters but I have had to. I am proud of them but that wasn’t good enough in that one moment for the free kick.”

On a day where both sides created a limited amount of chances Accrington always looked the more likely to score.

Siegrist was called into action on a number of occasions and the debutant looked in fine form throughout.

The Aston Villa loanee’s display drew praise from Ainsworth on a day where there were few other positives for the Wanderers boss to hold onto.

“It was not nice and not nice for the fans who have been supporting us all year and it is a bit of a damp one at the end of the day,” he said.

“We know the problem is scoring goals and we are going to address that in the summer and it is not a nice way to end the season at Adams Park.

“They had very few shots on our goal and the shot they did have is a great save by someone who has had a very good debut. He [Siegrist] was a massive positive for me today.”

Siegrist’s impressive showing provided the perfect counter point to a Wycombe attack which again failed to fire.

The Blues had chances to create but struggled to find regular openings and Ainsworth was quick to highlight their wasteful nature in the final third.

He said: “I thought we controlled the game in the second half and it is just again about sticking it in the back of the net. It is just that final chance and that final ball which needs to be better.”

He will hope his side can do just that in their final game of the season when they travel to take on Oxford. A win could see them prevent their local rivals from gaining automatic promotion.