Wycombe Wanderers manager Matt Bloomfield has reflected on his side’s 3-2 opening day defeat to Wrexham.
In the first match between the two clubs since March 2008, the Chairboys went 2-0 down inside 30 minutes, as Max Cleworth and Jack Marriott gave the North Wales side the lead.
Richard Kone pulled one back not long into the second period, but Steven Fletcher’s brilliant finish with five minutes remaining sealed the victory.
Sam Vokes scored in the dying embers to give Wanderers hope, but the day belonged to the Dragons.
The result means it’s the second time in two seasons that Wycombe have been defeated on the season’s opening day.
Speaking to the press at full time, Bloomfield said: “It was disappointing to concede two goals so early on.
“The first one happened when Jack Grimmer was off the pitch [being treated] so we had 10 players, and we knew that coming here with how Wrexham set up, they are a physical team so we knew we had to step up to that.
“Near the end of the first half, we were in the ascendency as we hit the bar, had one blocked off the line and had one one-on-one.
“We had more of the ball at the end of the first half and I thought it was just a matter of time, but we ran out of time [for the first half].
“We made the changes and I thought Dan Udoh was excellent as I decided to move with two sitters and put Dan behind Richard Kone up top.
“I was tempted to make the changes at half-time but I thought I’d give the boys another five minutes or so, but the start of the half wasn’t in our favour.
“So we put Dan on and I thought he was very good.
“He has proven he can do it at this level and he’ll be a huge player for us.”
On the positives, which included giving 18-year-old Jaiden Bartolo his professional debut in English football, he continued: “We want to be a team that plays on the front foot, that passes around and run forward at the right time and all the things we spoke about during pre-season.
“It was a good game between two very good teams, but we’re in an evolution stage.
“There were plenty of positives with our style and we dominated large parts of the game, as we passed the ball around very well.
“Nothing today surprised me as we’re in a building stage in which there’ll be good and bad bits.”
Up next is a trip to Northampton Town in the League Cup on Tuesday night.
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