“Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few” – Gareth Ainsworth makes League One promotion claim | OneFootball

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Football League World

·26 September 2022

“Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few” – Gareth Ainsworth makes League One promotion claim

Article image:“Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few” – Gareth Ainsworth makes League One promotion claim

Gareth Ainsworth saw his side handed a 3-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend and he told the Bucks Free Press that he feels there is now plenty of competition for promotion spots in League One.

He believes that the Owls will be one of the teams vying for a spot in the Championship this year but also threw four other teams into the potential promotion mix as well, including Bolton and Charlton.


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Wycombe have themselves been involved at the right end of the table over the last few seasons. It was Ainsworth who led the Chairboys to an unexpected promotion two seasons ago and he has kept them competitive too, with the side once again involved in the play-offs last time around.

Quiz: 23 things literally every Wycombe Wanderers fan should know – But do you?

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Article image:“Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few” – Gareth Ainsworth makes League One promotion claim

1) What league does the club play in?

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Ainsworth has continued to impress then on a modest budget but this year, his side have fallen to 17th so far. That comes after a run of two league defeats too against Derby and now Sheffield Wednesday. They’ll want to keep pushing on and get back to the top end of the division but their manager is all too aware that it will be hard to break into the top six this campaign.

That’s because Ainsworth has admitted there will be a few teams trying to ‘get out of the league’ this season – and it might meant that the Chairboys can’t retain their play-off berth and have to merely watch on as others chase a promotion instead.

Speaking about who could potentially be involved in a promotion hunt and how competitive the league is then, he said: “Sheffield did do that as every set piece was on the button, they hit the target with their shots, a few of our passes went off today and we didn’t really test Stocko [David Stockdale] enough.

“He made a couple of good saves but not enough. I also think they will be right up there. They will get out of this league, but they have got big competition in Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few – teams that get around 20,000 crowds a week.”

Gareth Ainsworth has undoubtedly worked wonders with Wycombe so far, turning them from League One relegation fodder and a midtable team into a side that continually defies the odds in the third tier.

Of all the clubs to be involved in a play-off hunt in League One – especially when you consider some of the big names and fallen giants in the division – you wouldn’t be quick to name Wycombe as one of them. Over the last few seasons though, they have regularly been there or thereabouts.

This year, you wouldn’t put it past them getting near the top six again, especially with Ainsworth in charge. He continually finds a way to make the team competitive, even when they are not blessed with the biggest budget in the world. The team that he has in place are just capable of getting the job done.

As the manager says though, this year will be a lot more competitive, with even more big teams involved in the promotion hunt with the likes of Derby, Barnsley and of course Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton.

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