MX23RW : Wednesday, May 8 16:30:54| >> :600:469445:469445:
[monks data]
Wycombe Wanderers
Championship | Gameweek 20
Dec 19, 2020 at 3pm UK
Adams Park
QPR logo

Wycombe
1 - 1
QPR

Mehmeti (88')
Jacobson (51'), Allsop (86')
FT(HT: 0-1)
McCarthy (29' og.)
Hamalainen (90+1')

Gareth Ainsworth: 'Wycombe will not be relegated'

Wycombe boss believes his team will beat relegation from the Championship.

Gareth Ainsworth insisted Wycombe will stay up despite seeing his side slip to the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship table following a 1-1 draw with QPR.

Anis Mehmeti's first senior goal two minutes from time earned a point for the hosts at Adams Park after Rangers had taken a 29th-minute lead through Jason McCarthy's second own goal of the season.

Sheffield Wednesday's victory over Coventry meant a point was not enough for Wycombe to avoid slipping to the foot of the table but despite their winless run now standing at 10 matches, a bullish Ainsworth believes his side will remain a Championship outfit beyond this season.

"We are going to stay in this league," he said. "There's going to be five or six teams all smashing it up at the bottom of the league.

"We've got to finish above three teams and that's what we're going to do.

"I thought we created enough to win the game and just couldn't stick one in. We actually stuck one in for them, which was disappointing.

"But we're not on the end of a 4-0 or a 5-0 as we were earlier in the season. Now we're hugely competitive and I felt we could have nicked it at the end.

"Anis (Mehmeti) will definitely be in line for international caps in the future (he has represented Albania Under-19s) and it's been great to welcome him to Wycombe. To see him get his first goal today was fantastic."

Ainsworth also criticised the decision not to award his side a penalty for handball early in the second half, which was met by a furious reaction from his players on the field.

He explained: "Sometimes you think 'is it just the players claiming for anything?' But the reactions were totally justified. The ball is just armed away from the goal line.

"I think it's a definite penalty for us. It's a goal that's been stopped on the line and that would make it 1-1 with quite a while to go.

"We were definitely the more aggressive team in the second half and we could have gone on to win."

QPR boss Mark Warburton pinpointed a lack of quality going forward as a key factor behind failing to end their own winless run, which now stands at seven matches.

Rob Dickie came close before the opening goal and Yoann Barbet's header was well saved in the second half as the visitors looked to stretch their advantage before being hit by a late sucker punch.

"You know what type of game you're going to get (at Wycombe)," Warburton said.

"They're very good at what they do, they're very direct, they get the ball forward and they're very hard to beat here.

"We got the goal and we got our noses in front. We dealt with the onslaught fairly well and to give away a goal of that nature is more than frustrating.

"We showed a lack of quality in that final third and we've got to be better.

"I just wanted the players to keep the football. They can't score if we've got the ball. We had enough of the ball in the second half and we were in good areas. You hope for a scrappy 1-0 but that late goal really hurts us."

The R's remain 19th, four points clear of the bottom three, while Wycombe are four points from safety going into the hectic festive programme.

ID:427273: cacheID:427273:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4778:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Ivan Toney celebrates scoring for Brentford against Watford in the Championship on December 15, 2020
Read Next:
Saturday's Championship predictions including Brentford vs. Reading
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!