Wycombe boss Mike Dodds revealed he no longer feels like “the worst person on earth” after a 2-0 win over Bolton lifted his side into the automatic play-off places.
Second-half goals from Caleb Taylor and Luke Leahy earned a third successive win for the Chairboys to move them above Wrexham and into the driving seat for promotion to the Championship.
The derby defeat to Reading earlier this month had left Dodds out of favour with many Wycombe fans, but he hopes the mood has lifted as they now turn their attention to Easter Monday’s clash with promotion rivals Charlton.
“After the Reading game, it was all doom and gloom and I was the worst person on earth,” said Dodds.
“We have now given ourselves a chance and this was a really professional performance. But there are plenty of twists and turns to come.
“The biggest thing for me is we look hard to play against. That’s the bit I am proud of.
“When I interviewed for the job I said I would come in and make us hard to play against. The group has completely bought into what we are trying to do.
“It’s an important win because the Easter weekend is always crazy, so I am not going to get too far ahead of myself.
“We have got to turn up on Monday and make sure we put in another performance like that.”
Taylor got on the end of Leahy’s free-kick to head in at the far post after 58 minutes, and Wycombe sealed the result in stoppage time with Leahy’s seventh goal of the season.
Bolton’s sixth defeat in eight games leaves them hanging on to the play-off places by a thread. The Trotters are only three points outside the play-offs but have an inferior goal difference to sixth-placed Leyton Orient.
Boss Steven Schumacher pulled no punches with his post-match assessment, admitting his team’s season is in danger of “fizzling out”.
He said: “There is a mentality that has been here for a long time. People have called the players soft for years and I can see why.
“The effort is there but there is something not quite right in the group we need to figure out.
“I don’t think Wycombe have loads more quality than us, but they found a way to win.
“Things that had been labelled at the group when I first came in, I couldn’t say because I hadn’t seen it. But in those tough moments you have got to grind it out and we can’t do that.”
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