'Counting the balls in is something I always do. They are £50 a pop': Behind the scenes at Wycombe as they prepare for Man City
Gareth Ainsworth, Manager of Wycombe Wanderers
It is 10.30am on Thursday, the morning after Manchester City put six goals past RB Leipzig, but at Wycombe Wanderers’ training ground the focus is not on their upcoming glamour trip to the Etihad Stadium but their next League One opponents. Downstairs the kit man, Steve Vaux, is applying the Carabao Cup logo to the sleeves of the away kits but upstairs Gareth Ainsworth has the attention of his players as he runs through some clips of Charlton Athletic.
An hour later Ainsworth drags a goal into place in preparation for an XI v XI game, which he occasionally halts to make a point. “If you let him turn on the ball there, bloody hell we’ll be in all sorts,” he says, urging the centre-backs Anthony Stewart and Ryan Tafazoli to get tight when on halfway. Making mental notes from the sidelines is Dr Misia Gervis, the sports psychologist, while the analyst Josh Hart films from a scaffold tower. Gone are the days of Hart and David Wates, the head of sports science, making up the numbers as defenders in practice matches, as they did on the eve of promotion to the Championship.
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