THE STOCK EXCHANGE
Owls keeper David: If Wycombe want to thank me... I will take three points
BY DAVID ANDERSON and IAN BAKER
DAVID STOCKDALE has joked Wycombe can give him three points today if they want to reward his service at their club.
Stockdale helped Wanderers upset the odds to reach last season’s League One play-off final before he rejected their offer of a new deal to join Sheffield Wednesday on a free.
He kept 18 clean sheets last season to jointly win the League One Golden
Glove with Plymouth’s
Michael Cooper.
The former Fulham goalkeeper is looking forward to facing his former side today for the first time since leaving them and is grateful to Gareth Ainsworth for helping him revive his career.
“It’s always nice to play against your old club,” said Stockdale (inset with his former Wycombe team-mate Adebayo Akinfenwa).
“I had a brilliant time there. I had ups and downs, they helped me resurrect my career, so I’ll always be thankful to them.
“But if they want to give me something back, then they can give me the points on Saturday.”
Stockdale has kept five clean sheets in his nine league games to help Owls to fourth in the table and he says the fans are right to demand promotion after missing out in the play-offs last season.
“I’ve been at some clubs that also expect a lot so why shouldn’t they?” he said.
“I’m not going to disagree with fans. With the squad we have, we should be doing well.
“That’s not putting pressure on ourselves because when you go into a team meeting and ask the question, ‘What do we expect this season?’, people will say, ‘We want to get promoted’. “So why wouldn’t you have that focus all the way through the season?
“You have to have that steel focus.”
Wycombe boss Ainsworth celebrates 10 years in charge today – which is also the club’s 135th anniversary. He has helped take the Chairboys from League Two relegation contenders to one of the better sides in League One via a stint in the Championship.
“Everyone has lifespan in every job but I still have the energy I had five or 10 years ago,” he said. “I’m a lucky person to have that.
“In the early days I don’t think anyone wanted me, but the club stuck by me. There’s so much more to do here. This club has the potential to do even better.”