Ahead of meeting his old club on Saturday, Darren Currie has admitted that he never wanted to leave Wanderers and says then manager Tony Adams had forced him through the exit door.

Currie, who will be in Dagenham and Redbridge’s dugout as assistant manager to Wayne Burnett, faces the club whom he spent three seasons at between 2001 and 2004 before Adams released him after Blues had been relegated to the fourth tier of English football.

A flamboyant winger renowned for his trickery and eye for goal, Currie accumulated 143 appearances in a Wycombe shirt and was runner-up in the club’s Player of the Year poll after scoring nine goals in his final season before a disagreement with Adams led to his departure.

He said: “I was signed by Lawrie (Sanchez) and I hit the ground running there. I felt so comfortable and so at ease being at that club from day one. I really enjoyed my time there and it’s a brilliant club.

“I loved playing there and the only disappointment I have is the fact that it came to an end the way it did. For me personally I wasn’t looking to leave and I don’t think that the majority of the club wanted me to go.

“It was one man that I didn’t see eye to eye with and he made the decision that my Wycombe career would come to an end.”

Adams ill-fated spell in charge of Wanderers lasted a year and 46 games before his resignation in November 2004, and Currie says the former England captain failed to build a bond with his players. 

“It was difficult because Tony Adams had come in and he’d changed a lot of things. He didn’t help the cause,” he said.

“I don’t want to be too critical but he changed a lot and it didn’t work. We certainly clashed there’s no denying that. I was as opinionated then about football as I am today.”

He added: “There’s got to be that rapport between staff and players. I didn’t ever feel that some of the squad ever had that relationship with Tony at the time.

“It was a difficult ending but it certainly didn’t leave any bad feelings. Your time at a club comes to an end and you move on.”

After leaving Adams Park, Currie went onto enjoy spells in the Championship with Ipswich and Brighton, most notably, before ending his playing career, in the Football League, at the Daggers where he has been coaching for the past three years.

After watching Wycombe’s struggles from afar last season the 40-year-old believes Gareth Ainsworth deserves all the acclaim for taking the club in League Two’s top three ahead of tomorrow’s game at Victoria Road.

When asked if he was surprised to see Blues doing so well he said: “I’m not surprised; I’m more pleased for Gareth and the club.

“They started the season very well and they’ve built up momentum from day one. Gaz has kept them at it, they just keep driving forward and they’re there on merit.

“They’re where they deserve to be. We know that when they come to us on Saturday we’re in for a difficult game.”

The former Wanderer was unable to watch Wycombe as they beat Luton on Tuesday night but says that Daggers boss Burnett observed that they looked like a side who “could smell promotion”.

Four wins from their last five games have propelled the east Londoners up the table to 15th, 12 points clear of the drop zone, and Currie says old friendships will count for little when Wanderers go in search of three more points towards their promotion push on Saturday.

“I still have friends from my playing days there that I speak to regularly. I always enjoy going back there. I’ve been back there once or twice for charity games and it’s always nice to get back there,” he said.

“I fully appreciated my time there and it’s great that someone like Matty Bloomfield has been associated with the club for so long.

“He’s been a friend of mine for quite some time now so it’s always nice to catch up, but when that whistle goes at 3 o’clock it’s rivalry time.”