Wycombe Wanderers manager Matt Bloomfield has insisted that his players ‘need to keep their feet on the ground’ despite a very strong start to the league season.

The Chairboys currently sit in seventh place in the League One, one point off the play-off places.

Their next opponent, Barnsley, are one place and one point above them, as the two sides take each other on at Oakwell this evening [October 1].

So far this campaign, Wanderers have won four of their opening seven matches, drawing once and losing twice.

The two defeats were against Wrexham and Birmingham City respectively, which took place in the opening two weeks of the season.

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Yorkshire, Bloomfield said: “There was a big turnover of players in the summer, and it was always going to take time for us to try and get those boys up to speed with how we wanted to play.

“At Wrexham, we got caught in the headlights for about 15 minutes but after that, I thought we were very good.

“Against Birmingham, there is no disgrace in losing to a side like that, as they are probably one of the best teams to have played in League One.

“And even though we lost, we performed alright in those games.

“If we get carried away, we’ll get punched in the nose so we need to keep our feet on the ground.

“Barnsley play with so much energy, they press high and Oakwell is a tough place.

On facing the Tykes, who did the double over Wanderers last season, he added: “I think we’re playing with a clear identity at the moment and we need to keep that clarity in terms of how we want to perform.

“There will be changes because we have to go there full of energy.

“Darrell is a very good manager who has established himself in the Football League, and Barnsley are a big club with good players at the level.

“We need to recover, recoup and get ready.”

Wycombe have only won two of their last 12 against Barnsley since their first meeting in 2002 – one at Adams Park (December 2018) and one at Oakwell (August 2022).

The latter saw the Chairboys beat the Tykes 3-0 with each goal being considered as some of the best in League One that season.

The first was from Anis Mehmeti, the second saw Dom Gape lob the keeper from 50 yards, and the third saw Nick Freeman smash one in first-time from range.