Jack Wilshere has warned Luton Town they must be ready for an energetic and attack-minded Peterborough United when the sides meet at London Road tomorrow, but insists the Hatters should also back themselves to cause problems at the other end.
Town travel to face the Posh looking to make it four successive League One victories after taking maximum points from their three recent home games against Barnsley, Leicester City and Doncaster Rovers.
Those nine points have lifted Luton to within one point of the play-off places, while Peterborough are 21st after winning just twice in their opening 12 league games.
The Posh have gone three league matches without a victory since Robbie Savage began his reign with a 3-1 win at Leicester City, but Wilshere believes there has already been a clear response from the team following the change of manager.
The Luton manager face Savage last season when he brought his Forest Green Rovers side to Kenilworth Road in the FA Cup, with the Hatters scraping through that 4-3 after leading 3-0.
The Town boss has admitted he had previously admired the way Peterborough played under Savage’s predecessor, Luke Williams, but said their new manager had brought a different approach to the team.
“I think there’s been a clear response from the team since Robbie’s come in. Actually, whenever I was watching an opposition we were going to play against, I’d watch [the against] Peterborough, because I like the way that they played under Luke. I thought that was a really good team.
“Obviously, they made a change. Robbie’s come in, Robbie’s very different to that. He wants a certain style, a certain way of playing, probably represents his character a lot.
“Robbie is someone that I’ve got a lot of respect for as a player and also his journey. I listened to a lot of Robbie’s press conferences, and especially his first interview at Peterborough, and his journey’s interesting. He got released from [Manchester] United, and he’s always kept that mentality of trying to prove people wrong, and he does it. He constantly does it, and looks to do it, and he has the attitude towards it.
“We’re expecting a game that is high energy. They want to play forward, they want to create chances, they want to attack. We have to be ready for that, and we have to make sure that we respect that, and we do our job defensively, and then hopefully, we can hurt them with the ball.”
Peterborough have a number of young players with considerable ability, and Wilshere acknowledged that their potential could make them a difficult opponent to assess.
“I think [they’re] probably like everyone in this league, right? You can see what it does right through our consistent results over the last four or five games, the difference it can make, and that only comes from consistent performances.
“So Robbie’s probably searching for that. He’s probably looked at the team and saw a lot of good things, a lot of talent, a lot of ability, a lot of players that want to attack.
“It takes time to work on, to be harder to beat as a team, to be more difficult to play against while still having that attacking side of the game.
“It’s going to be a game that we definitely have to approach with full respect, because they can make something happen out of nothing when you have good players, that can happen,” he said, adding: “But also then back ourselves to hurt them with the ball.”
To aid in that, Luton will have Jordan Clark and Nahki Wells available, with the manager providing an update on them after Clark missed Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Doncaster, while the striker limped out midway through.
There is also a historical significance to Saturday’s fixture, with the game falling exactly 141 years after Luton’s first-ever match, a 3-0 FA Cup defeat to Great Marlow on October 31, 1885.
The Hatters will hope the latest chapter in their history is a happier one, particularly given their recent form. However, they will need to overcome a Peterborough side who will be desperate to respond in front of their own supporters.
Podcast preview – Can Luton exploit Posh weaknesses?
Kevin Harper, the host of They Tried To Kill Us Off podcast has identified a match-up that could give the Hatters an advantage against Robbie Savage’s side. He discusses it with The Lutonian writer James Cunliffe.
Can Luton make it four wins in a row?
The full Peterborough v Luton fans’ podcast preview is available below:
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