Under-the-weather Matt Bloomfield proud of Wycombe players after rare away win
Stats Perform
February 3, 2024 02:32 MYT
February 3, 2024 02:32 MYT
Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield overcame illness to take his place on the sideline and watch his side earn a rare away win with a 3-1 success at Cheltenham.
The Chairboys boss had been unwell this week, but recovered sufficiently enough to see them claim their first League One success on the road since October 7.
Jack Grimmer and Garath McCleary both scored and Curtis Davies put through his own net before Matty Taylor pulled one back for well-beaten Cheltenham.
“I had a flu-like bug that had me in bed for 36 hours,” Bloomfield said. “It’s been a long week, but I’m really proud of the players.
“I might need a day or two now to recover properly and then I’ll come back fighting.
“I’ve been proud of the players on plenty of occasions this season, but I’m especially proud today.
“The way the boys went about their tasks today made me really pleased. Their application was brilliant.”
Wycombe went into the game with one win in 17, but they were good value for their fist league victory since New Year’s Day.
“The players have had a lot of knocks to overcome recently,” Bloomfield said.
“It was great to go in front, but I wanted to get a second and third to kill the game off. We could have had another one or two as well.
“We knew Cheltenham were playing well and we’d have to stand up to them. Sometimes the conditions dictate the way you play, but every man was in there scrapping for each other.
“It’s been a good week. We’ve got four points in the league, made it to the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy and got the signings through the door that we wanted.”
Cheltenham are seven points from safety with 18 games remaining and boss Darrell Clarke admitted his team were second best after bright performances in narrow defeats at promotion-chasing Bolton and Derby.
“We were miles off it today and I have to sort that out and pick the bones out of that defensively,” he said.
“We huffed and we puffed, but it was a million miles away from the last two performances.
“We are in a situation in the season where we can’t chuck games away like we did today.
“It’s 22 points from 18 games since I’ve been here, but with the start we’ve had we can’t afford performances like this.
“We have to learn very quickly and as I said to my players in there, there are a few mindsets that are a little bit fragile.”