Wycombe boss on the ‘special’ and growing Bucks derby

Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth is enjoying the growing rilvalry between his side and MK Dons.

The ‘Buckinghamshire Derby’ has been a fixture which has only built in stature between the clubs, with it’s peak coming last season.

Crossing paths five times in 2021/22, Dons were victorious on four occasions, but Wycombe’s one win proved to be the most important - the 2-0 win at Adam’s Park proving to be enough to see them beat Dons on aggregate in the play-off semi-final.

Neither side head into this weekend’s latest chapter with similar form which saw them finish in the upper echelons last season, but for Ainsworth, that will mean little come kick-off with both eager to get one up on their relative neighbours.

He said: “All of a sudden, this team from Buckinghamshire started to climb the leagues and the other fell down the leagues and now they are quite level, and I think it’s nice to have.

“It makes this special and you need these close proximity games as they are great.

“We travel all over the country so it’s nice to only go up the road and have a game against someone who is quite close to home.

“Manager-wise, you don’t look at that. But for some people, I know how much this game will mean however for me, it’s another League One fixture where we want to try and get three points and climb up that table.”