Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth heaps praise on Tjay De Barr after dream debut

Gareth Ainsworth was thrilled with debutant Tjay De Barr after he sent Wycombe into the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Gibraltar international De Barr enjoyed an extraordinary introduction to English football as he rescued the Chairboys with a stoppage-time equaliser to make it 2-2 at Stevenage before scoring the decisive penalty in a 5-3 shoot-out victory.

Boss Ainsworth said: “What a debut that is for him. He’s only young and he’s never played in the English leagues, but he’s made an impact tonight, scoring a goal and scoring the winning penalty.

Predict the latest results in soccer tips 1x2

“I have to say Stevenage were better than us in the second half. They really tested us and they’ve got some good players here.

“It’s tough for them to lose it on penalties, but we’ll take that – I’ve still not won a game in 90 minutes in the League Cup in 10 years as manager, but we’re in the third round and that’s really pleasing.”

Wycombe led at half-time through Adebayo Akinfenwa’s opener, but Elliott List levelled from close range after Luke Prosser hooked the ball goalwards.

Jamie Reid looked to have won the tie for Stevenage, only for De Barr to intervene first in normal time and then in the shoot-out.

Stevenage boss Alex Revell said: “Until they scored we were the better side and then after that we huffed and puffed, that’s the best way to describe it.

“But then we had a few words at half-time about how we would improve and you could see it straight away.

“The football we played was excellent at times and it was just a matter of time.

“To lose the game on penalties is really disappointing because of the effort that the players showed in the second half.

“They fully deserved to win this game, hands down, so I’m disappointed for them.”

Can't help but miss the latest results at soccer tip today