The harsh realities of life in the EFL Championship were hammered home to Wycombe in the cruellest fashion, when they lost their first ever game at this level to a stoppage time goal by Rotherham captain Michael Ihiekwe.

With Wanderers less than two minutes away from celebrating their first point in the second tier, they conceded a corner that the giant defender headed home to condemn Wanderers to a rare defeat on home soil.

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It was a devastating way to lose a game in which Wycombe created the better goalscoring chances.

They could have taken the lead after only two minutes when Scott Kashket broke down the right and delivered the perfect cross to the unmarked Daryl Horgan in Rotherham’s six yard box, but the Republic of Ireland international – one of Wycombe’s seven close season signings – somehow managed to scoop the ball over the crossbar.

Wanderers again came close to opening the scoring when Darius Charles headed against the post from a trademark Joe Jacobson free-kick, and the visitors only chance of a lively first-half came from a Kieran Sadlier free-kick that was pushed out for a corner by Wycombe ‘keeper Ryan Allsop.

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The second half at Adams Park was a disappointing affair as the pace inevitably dropped in the warm sunshine, but Wycombe were inches away from a late winner when Kashket wriggled his way into the Rotherham box and lobbed the ball over the former Wycombe ‘keeper Jamal Blackman, who spent the 2016/17 season at Adams Park, only to see Wes Harding clear off the line.

The game seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, which would probably have satisfied both teams, but there was a cruel twist in the tail for Wanderers.

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Gareth Ainsworth had warned his players that Rotherham, with so many players over six feet tall in their line up, would pose a major threat from set pieces and he must have feared the worst when Wanderers conceded a corner deep into added time.

Sure enough, sloppy marking and the absence of a defending player on the post allowed Ihiekwe to snatch an undeserved winner.

Losing concentration at a set piece meant Wycombe were denied their first ever point at this level, but there were also positives to be taken from the game.

Kashket looked sharp up front and the back four was once again in superb form, protected by Alex Pattison who put in a man-of-the-match performance as stand in for the suspended Dominic Gape.

Lessons to be learned?

If Wycombe are to survive at this higher level, they will need to be more ruthless in front of goal and can’t afford to lose focus from set pieces.

However, they proved against Brentford last week and Rotherham on Saturday that they have nothing to fear in the Championship and will continue to cause problems for opposing teams.