WANDERERS boss Gareth Ainsworth said his players are playing for their futures - otherwise they face the prospect of being dubbed the worst team in the league.

In the immediate post-match inquest after Monday's loss at Fleetwood Ainsworth said anyone who couldn't motivate themselves for tomorrow's crunch clash with Bristol Rovers didn't deserve to be a professional footballer.

He said it's a question of attitude, saying whichever team he picks has to show pride in playing for the club.

And he warned his players if they don't do that, they run the risk of becoming known as the Football League's worst team.

Ainsworth said: "Every single game as a player, I always took every game as playing for my career - training, reserves or first team. You have to do that in life, you always have to play like it's your last game or your last session, because it can be just round the corner.

"The boys know that without me having to reiterate it and putting added pressure on. When you have that shirt you know you have to perform and that's not a threat late in the season, that's football and the boys all know that.

"It's important we have as strong a squad as we can possibly have. The 11 out there, the boys have got to play for the shirt, play for the badge, play for the fans, and most of all play for each other."

There is an outside chance Wanderers can still finish bottom of the division but Ainsworth said: "We are not the worst team in the league by a long shot. We don't want to contemplate finishing as the worst team in the league. We need to start putting in performances now.

"We are in control of the situation. We control our own destiny. There's no road laid out you have to follow, you create your own road on Saturday. The past is the past. We can affect the future and that's what I intend to tell the boys in the next two days."