Manager Jack Wilshere praised his Luton players’ “courage” for coping well with what he called the “anxiety” inside Kenilworth Road during last night’s 2-1 League One victory over Barnsley.
The Hatters headed into battle against a struggling Tykes opposition on the back of a 2-1 loss at MK Dons on Saturday which led to boos fron the 6,100 travelling Town fans inside the stadium and more criticism in the days since from supporters.
That disgruntlement was a contributing factor to Town’s lowest home crowd of the season yesterday evening, 9,840 which is the first time this term the crowd has slipped below 10,000. Nerves were eased early on once Mads Andersen headed home Jamie Donley’s free kick inside two minutes.
With chances at both ends, Nahki Wells then nodded his seventh of the season to make it 2-0 at the break, before Makenzie Kirk pulled one back for Barnsley just before the hour mark.
Despite that adding to a sense of nervousness inside Kenilworth Road, Luton held on to claim all three points.
Afterwards, Wilshere said: “I’m really pleased with the courage, I would say, as courage and confidence are two different things. I can’t stand and just say to the lads, ‘play with confidence’, as they’re just words, I’ve been there as a player when a coach says that and what is confidence built from? Repetition and ultimately you need belief and you need courage.
“The belief is we’re in this together and we’ve got each other’s backs. We’ve got a way of playing and we believe that’s going to work and then courage is knowing that after Saturday we’re going into an environment that is a little bit on edge and we understand that there might be a little bit of anxiety in the stadium.
“But courage is knowing that, understanding that and doing that. The players went through that tonight and the only way that you build confidence is going through that and fighting together and I’m happy for them to see it through.
“We’ve been here before where we’ve had to do that and we don’t want to be in that situation, so that was the message to the players. That’s done, well done, courage, character, passion, everything that the game needed tonight, we delivered. Credit to the players as it wasn’t easy, we knew what we were coming into, we knew there was disappointment around, of course, naturally, when we lose a game like that [at Milton Keynes] where we should win, but the players dealt with that well.”
Wilshere stuck with the same starting XI for a third consecutive match, giving the players who had suffered Saturday’s disappointment at MK Dons the opportunity to put things right against Barnsley.
The manager admitted he had considered his options but felt there were enough encouraging signs from the weekend to justify maintaining his selection, while also highlighting the importance of consistency as Luton look to build momentum.
“I think you’re always looking and you change and adapt to your opposition, but I felt there were enough positives in the game on Saturday for the players to go again.
“You think about the goals we conceded, George [Johnston] needed to go again and George has been excellent. We wanted to put him straight back out and face that, he was excellent again tonight, great character from him.
“But apart from that, we’re short in a few areas, so there weren’t really obvious changes to make. I thought this group who played the last three games, we talk about trying to find consistency, but also I have to find consistency with a team, with a starting line-up, to give them the best chance to find that.”
Luton were made to work for the points after Barnsley reduced the deficit just before the hour mark. Kirk smashed in off the underside of the crossbar after the ball broke kindly for him, prompting a nervy spell in which the hosts occasionally gave possession away in dangerous areas.
Town continued to miss chances to restore their breathing room as Jordan Clark headed over from close range, Wells was denied a second by Cieran Slicker and Kal Naismith went close.
But at the back, against his former side Andersen was immense, as was Johnston, while Isaiah Jones, who replaced the injured Hakeem Odoffin, kept tabs on Barnsley’s dangerous and pacey winger Reyes Cleary. Wilshere was pleased with how his side navigated the closing stages, believing they showed greater composure in managing the game than they had done previously.
“I thought we dealt with that really well,” he said, adding: “There were a few moments even after that where we didn’t quite clear it right and there was a little bit of a hesitation at times, or a little bit of anxiety in the stadium, but we dealt with that well.
“I thought in the last 10 minutes we were back in control. We were trying to create chances, but also managing the game by putting it in the corner and slowing things down. That’s something we speak about developing as a team, that game management side of the game and we did that better tonight.”
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