Ainsworth can turn the tables
WYCOMBE boss Gareth Ainsworth says his side will show no fear as they prepare to take on Championship leaders Norwich at Adams Park today.
The hosts will go into the game on a high after their midweek win over Reading which gave them a glimmer of hope in their battle to avoid the drop.
And Ainsworth sees no reason why his side will not be able to take another improbable step towards safety at the expense of the Canaries.
He said: “I’m glad we’ve got some credit for Tuesday’s win because I’ve heard a lot about how bad Reading supposedly were, but not much about how good we were.
“The league is as close as it has been for a while.
“There are four or five teams that are a notch above, and we’ve definitely got one of those teams coming today.
“But we’re still confident we can win any game when we’re playing like we are.”
LEICESTER hero Steve Walsh has claimed the Foxes are now a major Premier League force – and Arsenal are not.
The 2015-16 Premier League champions are still in touch with leaders Manchester City at the top of the table.
And they have an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United to come.
Walsh (below) said: “You have to take Leicester seriously now. We are above teams like Arsenal because we are a big club now.
“Financially, we are wealthy, we have a top manager and we are having a better season than teams like Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal. They are not as good as Leicester and haven’t been for a couple of seasons.
“They have won more in their history but, on recent form, you can’t say Arsenal and Spurs are top clubs any more. Leicester are.
“The next five years could be even better.
“Players like Harvey Barnes and James Maddison have not reached their peak yet.
“We need to keep them – and the manager.”
Walsh, 56, says it is
“vital” that Leicester keep boss Brendan Rodgers.
He added: “When you’re a successful manager, other clubs will want you but I’m sure the owners will do everything they can to keep Brendan at Leicester.
“I think it’s clear he can manage at the highest level.
“He’s terrific with the young players, they all want to play for him and tactically he’s gone up against top managers and beaten them.
“It’s astonishing that we are where we are when you look at our injuries.
“Brendan has rotated the squad, kept them fresh and kept them going.”
With the Foxes hosting the Gunners today, Walsh has plenty of memories of Leicester-Arsenal clashes.
There was an equaliser in a League Cup tie in 1991 and, most memorable of all, he snatched a 3-3 draw at Filbert Street with an equaliser in the SEVENTH minute of injury time.
Though he got the goals at Wembley that took Leicester into the Premier League in 1994 and set up the Steve Claridge effort that won the League Cup three years later, Walsh regards that as possibly the best night of his career with the Foxes. He said: “What a feeling when that header went in!
“I’ve never known anything like it.”
VALERIEN ISMAEL is confident Barnsley will not get distracted by the play-offs after central defender Michal Helik fired them to their fifth straight win and seventh in the table.
The Tykes were flying when Helik volleyed home on 59 minutes against Millwall, following a flick-on by Mads Juel Andersen, for his fourth league goal of the season.
It was Ismael’s 25th match as a Championship boss and his team stand one place and a point off Bournemouth in sixth – with a game in hand.
Ismael says his men will not be sidetracked after they reached 51 points, two more than they managed in the whole of last season.
He said: “I don’t think so. I feel you can see and you can feel that everybody is on the same page, we are all focused.
“We know exactly where Barnsley came from last season – a difficult season – it’s a great feeling now.
“But it’s a long way still to go but we are hungry, we want to stay that way.
“We are not finished with the job but for the psychological side to reach the 51 points – that stage gives you a lot of energy.”
The hosts made the perfect start when the Lions failed to deal with Alex Mowatt’s free-kick and Cauley Woodrow turned the ball home after just two minutes.
But the lead lasted four minutes as Barnsley were caught short of numbers at the back and Mason Bennett drove to the left and shot across keeper Brad Collins.
Bennett then headed straight at Collins and he lifted the ball over the bar with just the keeper to beat.
It was Millwall’s first defeat in 10 games which leaves them 12th.
Lions boss Gary Rowett believed Barnsley’s first goal should have been disallowed for offside, saying: “The linesman should be able to see that.
“But we should defend better. They are probably the most direct side I’ve seen in the Championship.”