Admiral’s making waves for Ainsworth
GARETH AINSWORTH saluted his Admiral after Wycombe sunk Preston to sail into the FA Cup Fourth Round for only the third time.
The Wanderers boss gave a debut to Admiral Muskwe, 22, and the Zimbabwean striker set up Fred Onyedinma for the opening goal after just three minutes.
Preston had not lost away at Wycombe in eight previous visits but by the 25th minute they were already 3-0 down.
Josh Earl fouled Uche Ikpeazu and Joe Jacobson fired home from the penalty spot.
The third goal arrived when Josh Knight finished a well-worked move from a free-kick.
Although Riis Jakobsen pulled a goal back, Wycombe substitute Alex Samuel sealed it late on.
“It’s a brilliant achievement for the club and I’m proud of the performance of the players,” said Ainsworth.
“Admiral Muskwe is an unknown. We can’t go out and get Premier League strikers that everyone wants, so we have to find unpolished gems and he is certainly one of those.
“He made an assist and he’s disappointed he didn’t score himself. He was superb.”
Preston boss Alex Neil’s side looked thoroughly lost in the gloom of freezing fog.
And he said: “We were
2-0 down after nine minutes and the game was almost over even by that stage.
“We didn’t have the energy or the aggression that was required. We didn’t do the basics.”
WYCOMBE: Allsop 7; McCarthy 6, Knight
6, Tafazolli 8, Jacobson 7; Bloomfield 6 (Horgan (57th) 8), Adeniran 6 (Gape (68th)
6), Wheeler 8; Muskwe 8 (Samuel (75th) 7) Onyedinma 8; Ikpeazu 7 (Akinfenwa 76th)
PRESTON: Ripley 7; Rafferty 5 (Fisher
(74th) 5), Storey 4, Hughes 4, Earl 4 (Huntington (46th) 6); Ledson 5, Potts 7, Bayliss 6 (Browne (46th) 6); Mulumby 6 (Maguire 75th), Stockley 5; Riis 7
STAR MAN: David Wheeler
REF: S Martin