Jack Wilshere believes Luton Town can achieve something this season, insisting there is an “opportunity” to challenge for promotion — but that they have to improve in one key area.
The Hatters return to League One action tomorrow at Wycombe Wanderers after the three-week international break, coming off the back of two defeats against Stevenage and Bradford City.
They have left Town in 16th place in the division, five points off the play-offs, but with a game in hand on sixth-placed Cambridge United.
The Luton manager appeared on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, where he was asked by former Arsenal striker Ian Wright whether he felt his team could achieve something in League One.
“I feel like we can do something. I do,” Wilshere said. “And I look at the league as well and there definitely is an opportunity there.
“We have to improve in the final third. We get there all the time and I think we get there the second most in the league and our xG is really low. We need to improve that, definitely.
“But there is an opportunity and I feel like with the group of players, like they’re all in. That is a nice feeling and [I’ve got] good staff around me as well.”
Wilshere’s comments underline his belief that Luton have the foundations to compete for promotion, despite recent frustrations over their inability to turn promising attacking positions into goals in a seven-game start to the campaign where they’ve won just twice and lost three times.
The former Arsenal and England midfielder acknowledged that his preferred style of controlling possession cannot always be imposed on League One opponents, with the division’s unpredictable nature demanding tactical flexibility.
“Ideally, [I’d] have a team that can take the ball and dominate the ball because I think that’s the best way to win games,” he said. “However, that’s not the reality, especially in League One.
“We try, but you have to be able to adapt. You have to have variety, 100 per cent in that league.”
He added: “We’ve got some good players. We’ve got some really good players that can take the ball. We’ve got some really good players that are aggressive and you have to find the right balance for them all.”
Wilshere pointed to Luton’s defeats against Bradford and Stevenage as examples of the challenges his side face, arguing that matches cannot always be approached in the same way.
He said Bradford had beaten Luton despite registering only 0.2 expected goals, while Stevenage’s physical and direct approach presented a different kind of test.
“Stevenage want absolute chaos — they want to play long balls,” he said. “I feel like, with my team, if we go there and we start playing long balls or we start being aggressive, we’re going to lose that game.
“Game management is really, really important in that league and probably, like in any league, trying to find some consistency of performances, but especially in that league.”
Asked about the expectations surrounding Luton after their double relegation from the Premier League and Championship, Wilshere said he understood why promotion was the ambition, both inside and outside the club.
Town finished last season on 74 points and missed out on the play-offs by a single point on the final day. Wilshere believes an improvement of 10 points would put them in contention this time around. Last term, that would have seen them finish third in the division.
He said: “From my point of view and how I coach and how we work is, I feel like we can get 10 more points than we got last year, which then puts us in a place where we’re there or thereabouts.
“But yeah, we need to work at that because League One is crazy. There’s so much uncertainty and chaos in the game.”
Wilshere also reflected on the pressure he has learned to handle since moving into management, admitting that defeats initially affected him for longer than he expected.
He said the experience of managing Luton last season, following their double relegation from the Premier League to League One, had taught him the importance of maintaining perspective and providing consistent messages to his players.
“The losses last longer. You feel a big responsibility,” he said.
“I remember thinking about [former Brentford and Tottenham boss] Thomas Frank saying about the 24-hour rule. It was never 24 hours for me. It lasted longer.
“That’s something that I worked on in the summer. I’m better now. I think when you’re really clear on why, and you review everything, I think that helps. I think the people around you help as well.”
Wilshere added that the expectation that Luton would immediately win their way out of League One last term had not reflected the reality of the division.
He said the club needed to rebuild belief after their relegations and that his players had responded to the direction and consistency he had tried to provide, eventually going on a 12-game unbeaten run to finish the campaign.
“I remember standing in front of the players the first day and thinking, ‘they seem like their eyes are open, they’re listening, they seem like they want to go on a journey’,” he said.
“Then the first game was Mansfield at home and I walk out in the stadium and clap the fans and get a nice reception, and then straight away when the game starts, I feel an energy in the stadium and there was some frustration.
“The players needed a direction, they needed belief. And then I feel like they needed someone that is just going to stand by that no matter what and be consistent with the messages.”
For Wilshere, the immediate priority remains finding the extra quality in the final third that can turn Luton’s promising approach play into the results required to mount a promotion challenge.
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