Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth was full of praise for his side’s resilient and determined performance as they battled to a 3-2 win against rivals Milton Keynes Dons at Adams Park on Saturday.

With the game entering the 90th minute substitute David Wheeler popped up in the box finishing calmly getting his first goal for the club and ensuring a second win out of three for the new season.

Wycombe had led twice in the game, first from a Joe Jacobson penalty after 12 minutes and Fred Onyedinma towards the end of the first half but on both occasions were pegged back by the Dons.

The visitors also missed a penalty in first-half stoppage time when Conor McGrandles blazed his spot kick high over the bar.

As the game entered the 90th minute, Wheeler, the former MK Dons man scored to hand a proud Ainsworth all three points.

He said: “We work on culture here, we can’t go out and pick the best players because they’re the expensive ones, we focus a lot on character and what’s right for the group, and I have a great group as they’ve shown once again.

“We were very tired from Tuesday, but David Wheeler’s legs weren’t at the end there, he’s a great guy and it was a great finish.

“I have a lot of respect for MK Dons and Paul Tisdale, they have a good team and will win a lot of games this season, they cause teams problems with a lot of fluidity on the ball, so I’m even more pleased we’ve beaten them.

Ainsworth added: “What is really pleasing me now is the way we can mix things up and play different systems, we are showing our real talent going forward, but we have to go game by game with Fleetwood on Tuesday.

“I’d be very naive to think we’ve cracked anything, I’ll make sure we’re consistent and with the fans fantastic till the end as always its exciting times at Wycombe.”