Bloomfield determined to keep pushing Wycombe on

Matt Bloomfield has won 45 of his 94 games in charge of Wycombe

Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield has ruled out any chance of the club "getting above their station" after charging to the top of League One.

The Chairboys have won their last eight games in all competitions and their only loss in the last 17 was to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.

It is one of the best runs of form by any side across Europe and they are two points clear of Birmingham City ahead of Saturday's visit to Lincoln.

"The expectation from the new ownership was to try and build on last season's 10th-place finish which was above the budget value then," Bloomfield told the BBC's Monday Night Club.

"We knew it was going to be extremely tough but I was never going to be happy with just being in and around it.

"I wanted to try and push us as far as we could go, try and build on what we did last year, try and evolve it a little bit further and see where it took us without putting ourselves under too much pressure because the expectation and the spending power that there is elsewhere in the league, it would have been naïve and irresponsible to do that."

Matt Bloomfield spent 19 years with Wycombe as a player

Bloomfield played 557 games for Wycombe after first arriving at Adams Park in 2003 from Ipswich Town and spending the rest of his playing career there, before joining the coaching staff of predecessor Gareth Ainsworth.

He left to become Colchester boss in September 2022 but returned to take charge at Wycombe less than 18 months later when Ainsworth departed for QPR.

The 40-year-old said he had never wanted to just hang around and wait for the chance without proving himself elsewhere first.

"I needed to go away to Colchester and have my own go at being a manager. I needed to prove to myself and everyone around me that I was capable of doing this job," he added.

"It was about making that challenge for myself, go to Colchester, try and stand on my own two feet, risk failing, try and learn some lessons as quickly as possible, with the belief that if the job ever became available, if Gareth moved on, then I was available to come back and take it.

"I felt so fortunate that Dmitri (Halajko) and Robbie (Cowling), the sporting director and owner, gave me that opportunity (at Colchester) and I'll be forever grateful to them."

Bloomfield admitted there had been a couple of times when he had doubted the wisdom of returning to Wycombe. Ainsworth had been in charge for 10-and-a-half years, and had taken the Chairboys into the Championship.

"We've seen a number of examples across the football pyramid where following a manager of that longevity was always going to be a tough act to follow," Bloomfield said.

"There's been some tough moments but I guess it's about believing in what you're trying to do, trying to follow on from the good work he did and trying to evolve it to a place that represented me. That wasn't easy to do, it's an ongoing process."

Bloomfield said he was disappointed last Saturday's game with Huddersfield Town had to be postponed because of international call-ups as his side wanted to keep their momentum going.

But he continued: "It was a chance to take stock of where we're at, what have we done well this season, what do we need to keep improving upon, and how can we attack the next block of games with the energy we need to."

Richard Kone is Wycombe's top scorer with 10 goals so far

Wycombe's excellent run followed defeats by Wrexham and Birmingham in their first two league games - but their performances in those matches convinced him they were on the right track.

"I don't think there's any disgrace in losing to those two teams, because of the investment they've made and the quality of the squads they have, but both both games were 3-2 and we came out thinking we weren't far away. We just needed to make a couple of minor tweaks, which we did," he said.

"We had a good second half of last season when we got 30 points in 23 games so we felt we were in a half-decent place, we made some good signings over the summer, so we knew we weren't going to be too far away.

"It was just about trying to start building our season and luckily for us we've been able to make some footprints in the right direction.

"We're still just trying to move ourselves forward - we've had a good start but there's so much football still to play and we're certainly not getting above our station or ahead of where we are."

Bloomfield will renew acquaintances with Ainsworth, newly appointed as head coach of Shrewsbury Town, when the two sides meet in Shropshire on 14 December.

"When he first signed for QPR, he was my room-mate, then he was my captain, then my manager, the I was on his coaching staff, so we've been through a lot together," Bloomfield said.

"He's someone I respect immensely. It'll be really strange on the day but what I do know is that everyone will be at it for three points."