'It’s part of our values and morals' - Bloomfield on the importance of family time

Even though Wycombe Wanderers Matt Bloomfield ‘would have rather played’ Huddersfield Town this weekend, he understands the importance of the Chairboys players spending time with their families.

The Adams Park team had been due to face the former Premier League side this weekend, but after the Terriers confirmed three of their players had received international call-ups, their request to have the match postponed was granted by the EFL.

It means it’s the third month in a row that Wanderers’ league fixture on the international weekend will be rescheduled.

No date has been set for when Wycombe will play Huddersfield as of yet.

Bloomfield’s side would have gone into the fixture off the back of eight consecutive victories in all competitions, with the club losing just four times from 21 games since August.

They are on their best run of league form for two years with no losses in 12, as they sit top of the League One table.

However, despite recent successes, the 40-year-old believes that the importance of having a free weekend to spend time with loved ones shouldn’t be ignored.

He told the press after the EFL Trophy victory over Crawley on Tuesday night:  “They’ll be in for a couple of days and then they’ll have the weekend with their families.

“We have spoken about the relentless schedule we have before Christmas, so they must spend time with family.

“Family is everything to me as it’s part of our values and morals, and the boys need a weekend with the kids to relax a bit.

“But come Monday morning, we’ll be at it as we have an exciting period coming up.

“We’ve got Lincoln away, Mansfield at home and Exeter away [in the league] and we need to be ready for them.”

When the Chairboys return to action on November 23 away at Lincoln, it will be the first of 10 matches they will play before the end of the calendar year.

Eight of these fixtures will be in the league, one in the FA Cup away at Wealdstone and then an EFL Trophy round of 32 tie in the middle of December.

Wanderers’ opponents for that game have not yet been confirmed.

Bloomfield continued: “I’d rather have played the game [against Huddersfield] because it’s another game we’ll have to play midweek further down the line.

“We’ve got good momentum at the moment and that can be hard to come by in sport sometimes, so when you have it, you have got to feel it and carry it.

“But it’s the right time for the boys to spend a few days with their loved ones.

“For me, it’s tough because the only way to do this job is to be all in all the time.

“On Monday morning [November 11], I left home at 4.40am and got back for about 8.30pm.

“It’s a long day, but my girls mean the world to me and I’m away from them far too much.

“I was away from them for five days last week, so to have an opportunity to have a couple of days with them and be present is vitally important as they grow up so quickly.

“The last thing I want to do is miss out on their childhood.”