Wycombe Wanderers manager Matt Bloomfield admitted that his players were ‘not at the levels’ he set out during Tuesday night’s 2-1 home defeat to Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy.
The Chairboys were eliminated from the competition that they finished second in last season with Billy Kirkman and Kabongo Tshimanga getting the goals in each half.
Rosaire Longelo was given a straight red card on the stroke of half-time for a late tackle on Luca Woodhouse, with the score at 2-0, but Wanderers rarely threatened.
Beryly Lubala scored in injury-time to give the Chairboys hope, but Wanderers were defeated for only the fifth time this season.
It was also their first home loss in nearly three months.
Speaking at full-time, Bloomfield said: “My first emotion is of sadness and disappointment as I hate losing.
“I hate losing football matches and even though it hasn’t happened for a little while, it doesn’t make it easier.
We weren’t at the levels we set ourselves as a group and we need to make sure we’re at it on Saturday.
“There were some good bits as I don’t want to be too negative, but we weren’t at the normal standards that we set ourselves as we didn’t have the same fluidity.”
Bloomfield, in what was his 100th game in charge of the club, made nine changes to the team that drew 1-1 against Reading on Saturday, with Dan Udoh and Tyreeq Bakinson being the only two who kept their place.
The defeat against the Robins saw players such as Jason McCarthy, Ryan Tafazolli and Nathan Bishop all make rare starts.
For Bishop, it was only his fourth appearance for Wycombe since moving on loan from Sunderland.
He said: “As a player, when you’re playing regularly with the same players around you, you build those relationships and have that telepathy and when you don’t play regularly, it’s hard to turn it on for the night.
“The thing about this competition is that there was always going to be changes, and I take that on board but I believe in the group.”
It was Wycombe’s first defeat at home in this competition since losing 5-0 against Burton Albion in November 2021.
Former Chairboys striker Aaron Amadi-Holloway scored a hat-trick in that fixture.
