Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth heaped praise on his players after they beat fellow strugglers Walsall 1-0 at Adams Park to ease their relegation fears.

Jason McCarthy's majestic free kick on 53 minutes settled matters and it saw Wycombe move four points ahead of the drop zone with two fixtures to go.

Ainsworth said: "We had three games left after Rochdale and I said I want to win all three.

"The boys believe they can win all three and I do too and we have done the first.

"It is deserved. We definitely deserved to win today. Jason McCarthy is the name on the scoresheet and what a fantastic player he is and what a fantastic acquisition to the squad he was.

"He is destined for much better things and he took his free kick superbly well and I am just so pleased that we held on.

"After a game like that on Friday, you have people like Akinfenwa who is doing 180 minutes and El-Abd and people who are well into their 30s and they perform like that.

"To supplement that you have kids who never stop running and never stop working and they love wearing the shirt.

"I would have said even if they lost today how proud I am of the boys and I am so pleased we won and it is a big step towards survival."

With the finishing line in sight, Ainsworth did warn that they can't afford to be complacent with two potentially tricky games ahead.

He added: "Don't start saying that because we never thought we would do it [get promotion] in the penultimate game of last season.

"I am not naive enough to say we are going to do it next week at all. Mathematically, I think we need two points but I want six points and that is what I will be telling the boys.

"The quality they have got and the work they put in, they deserve six points. There are some players coming into their own at the right time and we have taken a huge step towards survival and I will be an immensely proud Wycombe Wanderers manager when we achieve that."

Leading into the game, Ainsworth admitted he had real selection headaches with the games so close together over Easter.

He said: "You want to know what I have been through in the last 48 hours of do I do this or do I do that.

"Are the boys tired? Should I change five or six? Have we got the players? Fortunately it looks like the right decision and I am pleased with the 1-0 and now they will recover for a huge game on Saturday."