Don Goodman believes a measure of the job Gareth Ainsworth has done at Wycombe Wanderers was shown in the sides the club finished above this season in the race for the play-offs which included Bolton and other ex-Premier League teams.
Wanderers finished the recently concluded League One campaign in ninth place, which is a great achievement for a side newly promoted to the division and their first season back in the league since 2020. Ian Evatt's side ended up on 73 points.
The Chairboys meanwhile finished 10 points ahead of the Whites and completed the campaign in the top six. The tally to reach the play-offs this season was 83 points.
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Wanderers are seeking to make a promotion push in earnest next season. Competing for the top six is the aim at least in what is shaping up to be another highly competitive division once again.
Evatt's side will face the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons, Derby County, Barnsley, Peterborough United, Portsmouth, Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic and the Chairboys too next campaign in the battle to be near the summit of League One. Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle are also sides who will aim to be in the mix too.
Ainsworth's side missed out on a place back in the Championship after losing the play-off final at the hands of Sunderland last weekend. The Wycombe boss is being linked with a move to boyhood club Blackburn Rovers following the departure of Tony Mowbray from Ewood Park.
Speaking on the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, former Sunderland and Wolves striker Goodman believes the sixth placed finish achieved this season by Ainsworth shows the job he has done at Adams Park. The pundit pointed out the sides including the likes of Wanderers, Pompey, Ipswich and Charlton that Wycombe finished above as a measure of that.
And with the points tally Wycombe reached recently, Goodman feels that if Ainsworth stays and adds to the group which is already at Adams Park, they could be automatic promotion contenders next campaign.
He said: "I just think to measure the job that Gareth has done, look at the final league table. You look at the clubs that are above Wycombe Wanderers and look at the clubs that are below Wycombe Wanderers.
"Wigan, Rotherham, MK Dons is a brilliant story, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland, and below them, Plymouth, Oxford, Bolton Wanderers, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Charlton.
"Really, should we expect Wycombe Wanderers to be mixing it right there? I'm not so sure we should really and I think that just underlines the brilliant job that he's done.
"At 83 points, they're not a million miles away if he does stay, if he keeps that group together, and if he adds two or three to it, they're not a million miles away from being an automatic promotion League One side."
