DAVID STOCKS UP TO BEAT THE DROP
IF WYCOMBE complete the greatest of Championship escapes, goalkeeper David Stockdale believes it will be an even bigger achievement than earning promotion in the first place.
Following their remarkable League One play-off success last year, the Chairboys looked destined for relegation in their first-ever season in the second tier after notching just 23 points from their first 35 games.
But recently ultra-positive boss Gareth Ainsworth and his troops have found a spark, picking up three wins and a draw from five matches ahead of yesterday’s clash with Luton.
Triumphs over Blackburn (1-0) and Rotherham (3-0) across the Easter weekend gave Wycombe further life and 35-year-old Stockdale claims confidence and belief are now coursing around Adams Park.
So if they can haul themselves to safety, would that be even more impressive than their historic promotion last summer?
“For our club, I think it would be, yeah,” admitted Stockdale.
“That’s because we work at a sustainable level, we don’t have as many staff or the budget of other Championship clubs, so I still think it has been quite a successful year in terms of playing through Covid and staff doing their job to a high standard.
“Our aim is to be a consistent Championship club, so whether we have to get promoted back to the Championship next year or we build the tunnels under Adams Park for the great escape this year, we’re committed to the cause!
“I don’t think a lot of people would have given us a chance of still having the possibility of staying up at this stage of the season, let alone fighting for it as hard as we are.”
The first half of the campaign saw Stockdale limited to bench duty behind Ryan Allsop before a two-week emergency loan spell at League Two Stevenage at the start of February.
The concession of just four goals in five matches not only helped move Boro clear of relegation trouble but also enabled the veteran to regain his match sharpness, which proved vital when Allsop got injured just before Stockdale’s return to Adams Park.
Suddenly the former Fulham, Brighton and Birmingham man was in possession of the No.1 jersey and he hasn’t relinquished it since, with six clean sheets in 11 matches making him undroppable.
“The most mentioned phrase is how much of a smile I’ve had on my face since being back in the team,” added Stockdale.
“People will write you off but you have to keep that self-belief.
“A few lads said to me ‘your time will come’. You go through moments where you don’t believe it but when my chance came, I was confident because of the experience I had in this league.
Standards
“I’ve got to say thank you to Stevenage – taking me there after such a long time out was a bit of a risk.
“I said to Alex (Revell, manager ) ‘my standards are high and if they’re not there, I’ll tell you. I’m an honest person’.
“In the first few games, I was doing well but I wasn’t happy with certain things, so I just kept going. Stevenage was massive for me to go out and play, feel that buzz again.”
Given the urgency of Wycombe’s relegation battle, Stockdale had no low-key games to help get his Championship feet back under him but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love it. Who doesn’t want to play in high-stakes games? It brings the best out of people,” he explained. “I’m going to carry on smiling. Everyone is looking forward to the final stretch – those recent results have got us thinking ‘can we do it?’. And that’s the question now – can we handle the pressure as a team?”