Wycombe v Aston Villa: Wanderers seeking the perfect birthday present
Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield has urged his players to embrace the underdog tag as they look to celebrate the club’s 137th birthday with a huge cup upset.
Bloomfield thinks he and his team are probably the only people in the country who believe they can beat Villa in tonight’s Carabao Cup third round tie.
And he wants his players to use that as motivation.
Former midfielder Bloomfield was part of the Wycombe team which beat then Premier League Charlton to reach the semi-finals of the competition in 2007.
He said: “We are up against a very high-calibre opposition in Villa and we respect that.
“But we will prepare, dream and have belief we can get a result.
“No-one outside of our changing room will believe that we can win the game so we will use that as motivation. It’s understandable due to the disparity between the two clubs as one is playing Champions League football, and the other is competing in a very tough League One.
“Of course, there is a gulf between the two teams.
“But if we can be at our best and Villa aren’t, then who knows what could happen.
“We believe in ourselves and I believe in this group, so it is about getting that balance right.”
Wycombe, founded on this day in 1887, have already beaten Northampton and Swansea to reach the third round and have won five of their last six in all competitions.
Bloomfield said: “Villa played in the Champions League and have another game in the competition soon, so I am sure they’ll be rotating their team.
“But, the quality of player Villa have been able to recruit has been incredible.
“The job they have done in the last few years in building a squad to get Champions League qualification and be a well-run football club is great.
“So we’ll put out what we believe will get a result against an excellent Aston Villa side.”
