Gareth Ainsworth believes his side have ‘progressed’ following Wycombe’s 0-0 draw against Birmingham City.
Wanderers faced the Blues just three days after being spanked 7-2 away to Brentford on January 30, which was their joint-heaviest defeat of the season.
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However, Wycombe looked strong and compact despite being on the back foot for large parts of the game, and thanks to a man of the match display from Wanderers’ goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, the Chairboys secured their first clean sheet in 12 matches.
The save of the season? (Prime Media)
Their last shut out happened when they faced Huddersfield Town back in November which was also a midweek match at Adams Park which ended goalless.
Speaking after the stalemate, Ainsworth said: “There were limited chances of quality and I think what was Premier League [quality] were the goalkeepers.
“They both made match-saving saves.
“Ryan Allsop made a couple and Etheridge made one where he was going the wrong way, which was an unbelievable save.
“I am pleased from Saturday as we have progressed a great deal and that was important to get.
“Probably either team nicking it would have been unjust, but I am pleased that we battled well against a very strong Birmingham City side, which have a lot of six footers and have got a certain way in playing.
“I am pleased with a point and we will build on that for Saturday.
“Both sides didn’t want to concede and they were superbly set up which is what Aitor Karanka does with his teams, as they are very solid and they counter-attack you very well.
“Bela was a real match for Jack Grimmer but at times we had Fred [Onyedinma] who is also a threat.
"When Bayo came on, we got more forward and I am really pleased from the progression from Saturday.”
Despite it being Wycombe’s first point of 2021, the Chairboys have now only won once in their last 15 league matches.
But with games against their relegation rivals coming up, Ainsworth is hopeful that the wins will come.
Wanderers face Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield, Derby County and Millwall, in their next five matches – teams who are all hoping to avoid relegation.
Rocky made two incredible saves against Birmingham
Our No.1.#WYCvBIR pic.twitter.com/XYjve8bUAP
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) February 2, 2021
He continued: “The games around us in Derby, Forest and Wednesday and even Millwall are some winnable games, but, we are Wycombe Wanderers.
“I read somewhere in the paper that Wycombe should celebrate every goal and every point because they shouldn’t be near the Championship and that is a compliment to me.
“If we can take off points from big teams, then it’ll be fantastic.
“We have just taken a point off Birmingham City where maybe two or three years ago, we would have been worried about an FA Cup tie against them.
READ MORE: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Birmingham City – As it happened
“But we matched them, we beat them up there too, but we need to start winning games if we want to survive.”
Wycombe’s next fixture against Nottingham Forest will kick-off at 3pm on Saturday, February 6 at Adams Park.
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