Gareth Ainsworth has explained the reasons why he opted to not go for the win after Birmingham were reduced to 10 men, in Wycombe's 0-0 draw against the Blues.

In the 87th minute of the contest at Adams Park, City had centre back Marc Roberts sent-off for a late challenge on Fred Onyedinma.

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The tackle was deemed to be so bad that referee John Brooks showed the 30-year-old a straight red card, as City held on for a point against Wanderers.

However, Ainsworth was reluctant to go for the win, and opted to bring on David Wheeler for Matt Bloomfield in the 90th minute of the match, when attacking options such as Garath McCleary, Daryl Horgan, and Anis Mehmeti were left on the bench.

He explained: “I think the speed of the tackle has probably made it look bad but then I thought, with five minutes to go, do I open up and go 4-4-2 and exploit the extra man?

“If it was 10 minutes earlier, I think we would have changed formation.

Marc Roberts tackle on Fred Onyedinma that lead to a red card (Prime Media)

Marc Roberts' tackle on Fred Onyedinma lead to a red card (Prime Media)

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“But with five minutes to go, the last thing after Saturday was to get beaten by 10 men which would have put us lower than a snake’s belly.

“So we are happy with the point.”

The draw also saw Jordan Obita make his debut for the club, whilst Nnamdi Ofoborh also made his homecoming for Wanderers in the same match.

The two completed the 90 minutes with Ainsworth being pleased with his new left back.

He said: “He [Jordan] gave me exactly what I thought he would as he has got pace, calmness, quality on the ball and he will be a good challenge for Jacobson without a shadow of a doubt.

“With one training session under his belt, and with Ofoborh not having one yet, there are two players who have come in and have given me what I thought they would, and I know there is more to come from both.

Marc Roberts red card happened in the 87th minute (Prime Media)

Marc Roberts' red card happened in the 87th minute (Prime Media)

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“But with Jordan, I am pleased with him and I think he will be pleased with the clean sheet.”

“I have got some fresh legs for Saturday, we had a great window and the long-term planning at this club is very good and hopefully we will get points this weekend.”