Dominic Gape was handed the captain’s armband for the first time on Tuesday and had mixed feelings after seeing his pride in the occasion swept away by disappointment at the 2-0 loss to Coventry.
The midfielder made his 100th appearance for the Chairboys in the Boxing Day defeat to Burton and learned of manager Gareth Ainsworth’s decision to hand him the armband just before the team news was announced ahead of kick-off against the Sky Blues.
“It was a very proud moment for me,” he said afterwards. “I’d just made my 100th appearance for the club and it was a very special moment to lead the boys out, but in the end it was a really disappointing result.
“We haven’t done too well against Coventry – I’m not sure why – and as soon as they got the first goal it knocked the stuffing out of us. We had momentum before that, but after their goal we didn’t ask enough questions.
“But now we’ve got enough time to work on things to put them right before the next game. We’ve gone through these periods before and come out the other side, and that will be the case again. There’s great spirit and characters in the changing room, and we know everyone has to stick together. There’s no substitute for hard work and we’ll be doing everything we can to get a result in the next game.”
Gape of course scored the goal at Chesterfield that sealed Wanderers’ place in League 1 and is determined – like everyone at the club – to ensure that the club remain in the third tier at the very least by reaching their points target as soon as possible.
“Before the season started we were one of the favourites to go down, so we’ve ruffled a few feathers so far by getting to where we are, but nothing’s decided in December/January and now we have to get back to doing what we were doing well during our winning run, to make sure we reach our target.”