Play for a draw? Cobblers to that
9:00am Friday 15th March 2013 in Latest Sport By Andy Carswell
Gareth Ainsworth
ONE more point will take Wanderers up to Gareth Ainsworth's 50 point survival target - but the Blues boss said he won't be playing for a draw against Northampton tomorrow.
Wycombe edged ever closer to the 50 point mark generally seen as guaranteeing survival from relegation with a point from Tuesday's draw with Rotherham.
But Ainsworth said he's aiming for a win tomorrow when the promotion chasing Cobblers arrive at Adams Park.
He said: "A draw will get us there but I want a win. You've always got to think like that.
"As a player I always played the same way, no matter who it was. When I played some of the top teams in the Premier League I always believed we could do something as a team. I never went into one game thinking, 'We'll try and draw this game'. I always go to win and I'll be the same as a manager.
"I don't think I'll ever line up to draw a game. If you set out to draw you're asking for trouble."
The fact Wanderers are virtually safe shows the turnaround the side have made since Ainsworth was handed the managerial reins.
They faced Northampton in one of his first games in permanent charge in November, with a 3-1 defeat sending Wanderers to the bottom of the Football League.
The Blues boss said that loss at Sixfields didn't leave him wondering if he'd done the right thing in accepting the manager's job on a full time basis, having been in caretaker charge prior to that.
He said: "It's never a case of, 'God what have I let myself in for?' Those early games were markers for me and little trials to see who was there for me and who could do what.
"We actually hit rock bottom after that game and it was probably the most worried I've been. We kicked on from there and didn't look back after that game.
"The response was pleasing and it's a slightly different Wycombe, spirit wise and as a group, that comes up against Northampton at home."
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