Wanderers look lost as Brentford hit seven
D E J E C T E D Wy c o m b e boss Gareth Ainsworth said his side’s thrashing a t Br e n t f o r d was unacceptable but vowed his players would put it right.
Despite going in 2-2 at the break, his side collapsed under a five-goal salvo which he blamed on a lack of concentration and focus.
‘It was a tough second half,’ he said. ‘We lost concentration and let the two early goals affect us.
‘Both were poor decisions from the referee, but we lost the focus we had in the first half,’ he said.
‘We had a plan and it worked in the first half, but we let them run away with the game after we felt hard done by. The second half was not acceptable and we’ll have to put that right.’
Ainsworth blamed a harsh penalty given against Fred Onyedinma just before the hour mark for ending his side’s chances.
He said: ‘Brentford were super with their finishes.
‘The referee was wrong with the penalty but we can’t let things like that affect us. It was not good enough but there were one or two positives despite a lot of negatives.
‘I’m not a character who accepts defeats like that well.
‘It hurts me big time and I will be working these boys hard this week. I won’t criticise them in public because the buck stops with me. I’m the manager and we have a game in three days to put this right. I knew it would be tough coming to Brentford but at half time there is no way I saw 7-2 coming.
‘ The next six games we need points on the board or we will be cut adrift.”
Brentford head Coach Thomas Frank hailed his side’s resilience and ruthlessness.
Goals from Ethan Pinnock, Sergi Canos, Josh Dasilva and a brace each for Tariqe Fosu and Ivan Toney — who may well stake a postmatch claim to one of Fosu’s for his first hat-trick — did the damage.
That was after equalisers from Uche Ikpeazu and Admiral Muskwe made the promotion chasers sweat in the first half.
Frank said: ‘Wycombe have had some impressive results against the top sides and have only lost by one or two goals, so we knew what to expect. They used their energy, physicality and aggression very well in the first half.
‘But we handled the game very well. It was a physical battle in the first half and we had to compete and earn the right to play our football, which is what we did.’
Frank confirmed the club would be seeking to award Fosu’s second goal to Toney, a strike that would give him his first hat-trick for the club and his 19th of the campaign. ‘It was Ivan’s goal, 100 per cent, and his hat-trick, but I’m delighted that Tariqe was there to make sure for the team,’ said the Dane.
But Frank took most satisfaction from his side’s five-goal secondhalf salvo. ‘ That resilience and ruthless mentality is the big difference between the good teams and the top teams,’ he said.