Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield admitted that morale around the training ground was ‘flat’ following the club’s failure to reach the play-offs.
Last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat against Lincoln City, which was the visitor’s first at Adams Park since September 2006, ended any hope of the Chairboys finishing in the top six for the third time in four seasons.
It was also the sixth time in 13 games that Wanderers had been defeated.
But Bloomfield is looking forward to the future, and believes that the competitiveness of League One has made it ‘a very exciting division’.
Matchday club shop promotions continue this Saturday! And first up we have FA Cup squad signed, used matchballs. There are just 3 available to buy.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) April 27, 2023
🕛The shop opens at 12pm. pic.twitter.com/RfUwZDOOeJ
READ MORE: Wycombe's Jack Grimmer expected to miss the rest of the season with concussion
He said: “After Saturday, the morale around training was extremely flat but after a few days, things started to pick up.
“There was of course a bit of a hangover in terms of disappointment as we’re all human.
“We all had high hopes as our aim was to reach the play-offs so we are of course extremely disappointed.
“We have now got that out of our system and the boys have trained really well this week.
"There has been a good bounce this week.
“In terms of our performance and results, I want the guys to finish the season strongly and I want to see what I can learn about the boys in that time.
“This will help us prepare in the summer for next season.”
Game over.#WYCvLIN pic.twitter.com/DQcE3khCeC
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) April 22, 2023
As it stands, seven former Premier League teams currently occupy the top half of the League One table, with some having considerably larger budgets than the Chairboys.
And despite the disappointing end to what has been a mixed campaign for Wycombe, Bloomfield has high hopes for the season ahead.
Speaking on League One, he added: “The competition in this league is very good.
“There are some huge teams in this league and it’s one of the most exciting in terms of what happens at the top end, and this has not surprised me.
Matt Bloomfield looks to the future after the #Chairboys' play-off hopes were ended by today's 2-0 defeat to Lincoln.#WYCvLIN pic.twitter.com/o9IaWOQqWF
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) April 22, 2023
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“The profile of League One has been raising in recent years as it’s the best it’s ever been in terms of the tactical knowledge of the managers, and the athleticism of the players.
“It’s far and above what it was a few years ago when I played in it – it’s a very exciting division.”
Finally, on facing Cheltenham Town and Portsmouth in the final two games, he concluded: “We want to get maximum points from the next two games and we want to get certain messages to players, and this is a very important couple of weeks for us as we want to finish strongly.”
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