Alfie May return lifted Cheltenham, says boss Wade Elliott

Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott hailed the impact of returning striker Alfie May as his goal secured a 1-0 home win over Wycombe.

Making his first League One start since October 1 due to an ankle injury, May cut inside after receiving Dan Nlundulu’s pass and scored via the aid of a deflection off Nick Freeman in the 26th minute.

The result earned Cheltenham their first win over Wycombe for nine years and took them eight points clear of the bottom four, with the same margin between the Robins and the play-offs.

“Alfie’s personality is infectious,” Elliott said. “It gives the punters a lift when they see him. It doesn’t matter how he plays, he gets man of the match every week!

“They obviously love him and it gives the lads a lift too. The opposition see him on the team sheet and know he’s a threat, so it makes them more wary.

“We’ve haven’t had a fully fit Alfie yet this season, so hopefully it won’t take too long to get him up to speed because you can see and we all know what he’s capable of.

“The bottom line is he’s a good player and you want as many of them on the pitch as possible.”

It was May’s fourth league strike of the season as he piled more misery on Wycombe, against whom he netted four times in a 5-5 draw last season.

There was nothing between the sides in the first half, with Josh Scowen seeing a shot blocked for Wycombe after Anis Mehmeti’s early run.

May sparked Cheltenham into life with a shot in the 13th minute that was blocked, with Liam Sercombe’s follow-up also charged down.

Wycombe’s David Wheeler sent a shot just past the left post five minutes later before May made his decisive contribution.

Alfie Mawson saw a shot deflected inches wide in the 58th minute and only a last-ditch challenge from Charlie Raglan stopped Lewis Wing from levelling after Brandon Hanlan’s cross from the right as Cheltenham held out for their first win over Wycombe since 2013.

Wanderers boss Gareth Ainsworth gave Cheltenham credit for the way they held on to their narrow advantage.

“Cheltenham battled really hard and wanted it,” he said. “They got the lead and defended it with their lives. Fair play to them – well done.

“After last week’s win against Forest Green we thought we were better than we were.

“Nothing fell for us today, but you have to make your own luck and I was disappointed by the lack of quality.

“We didn’t get the breaks and I have to work out why. We couldn’t break them down and that’s down to me.

“We’ll pick the bones out of it and now have two weeks to put it right before we play Portsmouth. It’ll be a tough journey home, but I’ll pick the boys up.”