Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth believes his side ‘didn’t take their chances’ as the Chairboys lost 3-1 away at Sunderland.

A brace from Ross Stewart and a late goal from Elliot Embleton sealed all three points for the Black Cats, with David Wheeler scoring a consolation for the visitors in second-half stoppage-time.

The result confirmed Wanderers’ first defeat of the season and their first loss in eight matches, as they drop from second to sixth in the League One table.

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Speaking after the match, the Wycombe boss said: “I couldn’t believe we came in 2-0 down if I’m honest.

“I thought we edged it in the first-half, but, if I’m honest, this game is about both boxes, and, we had a lot of chances, but we didn’t hit the target enough.

“They [Sunderland] took their chances really well, but, if we keep playing like that we’ll be fine, but they were ruthless with their opportunities.

“First-half, I was angry as we were 2-0 down, but I gave the boys credit in how they played as we dominated possession and chances, but they put theirs in and that was the story of the first-half.

“Second-half, it was a lot more even, but they took their chances and we didn’t.”

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Despite the defeat, Wycombe have enjoyed a stellar run of form of eight unbeaten – their best run of matches without a loss since the 2016/17 campaign.

In that season, Wanderers went 16 games without defeat from November 12, 2016, to January 28, 2017, in all competitions.

And with a match against the Aston Villa Under 21 side up next for the Chairboys in the Football League Trophy on Tuesday night, this will give several of the first-team players an opportunity to rest, before they are back out again on September 4, as Ipswich Town visit South Bucks at the start of September.

By the end of August, Wycombe would have played five matches away from home in all four corners of the country, whilst only playing three fixtures at Adams Park.

Ainsworth continued: “We want to be in and around the big boys at the end of the season, and we class Sunderland as the biggest boy in this league and we want to be in the mix – that's my hope.

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“You look at your Yeovils and your Stockports and teams like that who went, and went and went.

“We plan not to do that and we’re still Wycombe Wanderers.

“We’re still this team, a new team that is developing to be a top-end League One club, and we’re proud of the fans for sticking with us, proud of the players as always, and we’ll keep fighting and scrapping and I’m sure we will be fine.”