Wycombe Wanderers’ assistant manager Richard Dobson spoke highly of his young team after they defeated Northampton Town 2-1 in the first round of the League Cup.

A wonderful Joe Jacobson free-kick and a brilliant D’Mani Mellor strike, which was his first for the club, gave the Chairboys a comfortable lead at half-time.

Louis Appere won and scored a penalty in the final 15 minutes for the Cobblers to give Wanderers a nervy ending, but they managed to hold on and secure their first win in the competition inside 90 minutes since December 2006.

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The Wycombe starting line-up saw 10 changes from the defeat at Bolton on Saturday, with Jack Wakely, Jack Young, Jasper Pattenden, Mellor, and Ali Al-Hamadi all making their first starts for the club.

Speaking to the press after the match, Dobson, who stood in for manager Gareth Ainsworth, said: “We are delighted to have got into the next round and we decided to change things up a bit.

“I asked a few of the young players to step up.

“I told them that this wasn’t a pre-season friendly as this was a game that matters, and they need to learn how to win games at this level.

“We played a very good Northampton side that will be near the top end of League Two without a doubt, and I thought our boys played very well.”

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On the changes made, Dobson explained: “I’m all for youth and developing young players and it is important for the club to have that as part of their growth.

"We’ve seen the likes of Anis Mehmeti and Chris Forino come through and we want the others to follow through, such as Tyla Dickinson this season.

“It was an opportunity for them and I told them that they need to take this opportunity.

“They are a strong/good side, so I said to the boys that they needed to match that and we did.

“When Northampton got the penalty, you start to think, ‘ok, what are we made of?’ and we actually grew which was very good to see.

“I was delighted with the first half as we were solid, both goals were a moment of class and in the second half, they were at us but even after they scored, we were the better side and that pleases me a lot.”