Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth has said he is ‘unbelievably proud’ after his side took Brentford to penalties in their first round EFL Cup tie against Brentford.
It was the first competitive game at the ground’s new Brentford Community Stadium, with Wycombe falling behind in the first-half, thanks to a header from Ethan Pinnock.
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The Chairboys’ task then got harder as Dominic Gape was shown a straight red card just two minutes into the second-half, for a late tackle on 19-year-old Jan Zamburek.
But Ainsworth’s men equalised with 14 minutes to go when Daryl Horgan, a summer signing from Hibernian, scored on his Wycombe debut.
In the resulting shoot-out, Nick Freeman and Scott Kashket missed their penalty kicks, meaning Brentford secured a second-round trip to Southampton.
They won 4-2 on penalties.
Speaking after the game, Ainsworth said: “I’m unbelievably proud.
“Taking a fantastic club like Brentford to all the way to penalties, and deservedly so, it was no fluke.
“It was an endeavour with some real hard work and some individual brilliance.
“The boys were fantastic, sceptically after going down to 10 men.
“I thought Daryl Horgan had a great debut and end even at 10 men, I thought we still kept pushing.
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“I’m very proud and I’m looking forward to the challenge of the Championship.”
Ainsworth also spoke about his side's defending and Gape's red card.
Following the dismissal, it is more than likely that Gape will miss the start of the league campaign, carrying a three-game suspension.
He continued: "I was disappointed with the goal against us because I don’t think it was the free-kick, and there was definitely a block off when the ball comes in from the free-kick.
"And with the sending off, I don’t want to comment on anything and blame other people, but I think Dominic has really gone into that.
"It’s a tough challenge and I think we’ll see a lot of tackles like that during the season.
"Some will get let go and others will get sent off so there needs to be consistency.
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"All in all, I’m not concentrating on the moaning, I’m concentrating on a fabulous performance from a real solid Wycombe outfit.
Wycombe’s first game in the Championship will be against Rotherham United on Saturday, September 12 at Adams Park.
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