Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth is ‘proud’ of his players after Wanderers’ 4-1 win against Preston North End in the third round of the FA Cup.

Goals from Fred Onyedinma, Joe Jacobson, Josh Knight, and Alex Samuel secured the Chairboys’ first win of the calendar year, as well as their first victory over the Lancashire side since 1994.

READ MORE: FT: Wycombe Wanderers 4-1 Preston North End: Chairboys through to the next round

It was a brilliant performance by Ainsworth’s men, as they were 3-0 up by the half-hour mark, and 2-0 up inside 10 minutes.

Speaking after the match at a foggy Adams Park, he said: “I am proud of the performance because players who hadn’t been playing came in and they have shown me what they can do.

“This gives me a team selection headache for the next game against QPR, which is a problem that all managers want.

“I want to give Rob Couhig a cup run as he is a big fan of the FA Cup over in New Orleans and hopefully, we will expand on the result.

“It is our biggest win for quite some time and to do it to one of our Championship rivals is great.

READ MORE: 'You never look at it as revenge' - Ainsworth on previous battles against Preston

“They made changes as did we, as Admiral Muskew came in and Jason McCarthy played.

“It has been tough for some of my players to get games, but they have shown me what they have got and it gives me a headache for next week.”

In 25 matches this season, it was only the fourth time this campaign that Wanderers have been on the winning side, with the triumph against Preston being their first win in any cup competition since beating Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Cup second round on penalties in August 2018.

And with the manner of how the Chairboys thumped Preston, Ainsworth hopes this can now be transferred into their league form.

He continued: “Winning breeds winning.

“If we got beat 5-0, then that would have been a dodgy result and heaven knows what the confidence would have been like next week.

“So, whatever game it is, EFL trophy, FA Cup, League Cup, Championship, etc, all I want them to do out there is win.

"I will never belittle a competition and I am really proud of the performance.

READ MORE: 'We will definitely be looking to do more business this month' - Ainsworth on transfer targets

“I am a big believer in the FA Cup as the Ainsworth household is a big fan of it, especially from the 80s and 90s, and I will treat it with the utmost respect.”

Wycombe will find out who they will play in the fourth round on Monday evening.