WYCOMBE LEGEND FEARS FOR FUTURE OF LOWER LEAGUE CLUBS

PEP GUARDIOLA can probably still ping a pass to feet from 40 yards.

But the Manchester City boss is unlikely to name himself as a substitute for the champions-elect if there’s a repeat of what happened against Burnley last month, when a lack of fit senior players left him a man short on the bench.

The same can’t be said of Gareth Ainsworth at League Two promotionchasers Wycombe Wanderers.

“Frequently, we don’t fill the bench,” the 44-year-old said. “I can only put three subs on but I would love to have options on the bench. We just can’t, though – we’ve got no youth team, no academy and no reserves.

“I was on the bench in the Checkatrade Trophy (against Swindon in October) and I played in the competition last year. I was 43 at the time and, I won’t lie, I didn’t enjoy every second of it. It was definitely a case of ‘do what I say, not what I do’ for the boys when I came on.

“Usually you promote your best youth-team player and stick him on the bench but we can’t do that here.

“We don’t want to be the team that moans about it – we say that what we have is good enough.”

So far it has been good enough to propel a team with a fraction of the budget of most in League Two to the cusp of automatic promotion from the bottom tier.

It has also shone the spotlight on a man who is now the fourth-longestserving manager in English football.

Ainsworth’s Adams Park tenure – he took over in 2012 – is now topped only by Jim Bentley at Morecambe, Paul Tisdale at Exeter, and under-fire Arsene Wenger (right) at Arsenal.

At a time when sacking managers is the go-to ploy for most chairmen, the success of Ainsworth (above) is a refreshing antidote.

“Short-term thinking dominates,” he says. “It’s easier to sack one person than 22 players but it has been proven time and time again that changing the manager doesn’t always make a difference. Sometimes it is the manager but often it isn’t.

“I had a little experience at QPR, which was quite chaotic, and it was a good grounding for me.

“In the first few months you have to get results, no matter how you do it. You have to have a bit of luck but you