Matt Bloomfield: Time for Wycombe Wanderers to 'get serious' in Bristol Street Motors Trophy

Newcomer Richard Kone puts Wycombe 2-0 ahead against West Ham U21s

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield says they "might as well" take the Bristol Street Motors Trophy seriously after reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.

The Chairboys beat West Ham's under-21 side 2-1 despite Bloomfield making several changes for the game.

Debutant Richard Kone, a recent signing from non-league Athletic Newham, scored what proved to be the winning goal.

"He knows where the back of the net is, he has composure in front of goal," the Wycombe head coach said.

Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio they had been "really patient", having first tried to sign Kone from ninth-tier club Newham, who play in the Essex Senior League, during last summer's transfer window.

"We've got to be careful not to heap too much pressure and expectation on his shoulders because he's still a young boy learning his trade but he's one we've been waiting for and I think he's going to play a good part in our future," Bloomfield continued.

An own goal put Wycombe ahead early on and Kone doubled the lead just after the half-hour, before the young Hammers pulled one back through Gideon Kodua after the break.

Bloomfield said: "It was an opportunity to rotate the team and give opportunities to other players.

"We knew they were going to have some good technicians, pass the ball around and we needed to try and knock them off their stride with our experience and physicality.

"We came out of the traps, a real fast start and could have been one, two, 3-0 up early on. We knew once the game settled down, they were going to come back into it because of the way they move the ball around."

Wycombe have reached Wembley on seven occasions, winning four times.

But they were beaten by Sunderland on their most recent visit in the 2022 League One play-off final.

Of their prospects in the Trophy, Bloomfield added: "We're a couple of games from Wembley and it becomes a little bit more real.

"The league is our bread and butter and we have to make sure that our senior boys are fresh to play in the league games, but once you get this far down the line, you want to get as far as you can.

"That was my intention in pre-season, we wanted to build a squad so that come the cup games were able to rotate and have a go.

"It didn't really happen as much as I'd hoped in the EFL Cup and FA Cup but we've found ourselves at this stage so we might as well take it seriously."