Jack Wilshere praised Luton Town’s defensive resilience and the mentality of his players after they bagged a first clean sheet in two months and made it four successive League One victories with a 2-0 win at Peterborough United.
The Hatters followed up their three recent home wins over Barnsley, Leicester City and Doncaster Rovers with three points on the road, moving up to fourth in the table. It’s the first time Town have been in the play-off places for 455 days, coincidentally after they beat Posh 2-0 at London Road in the second game of last season. It’s also the first time Town have won four league games in a row since they were last promoted from the third tier as champions in 2019.
Goals just minutes into the start of each half from Jordan Clark and an own goal from Liam Kelly, both assisted by Kasey Palmer, put the visitors in pole position for victory, while a first clean sheet just a few days shy of two months was a welcome addition for a side suffering a spate of illness that meant captain Kal Naismith the latest player to miss out.
Luton boss Wilshere admitted it was not necessarily his side’s best performance during the winning run, but was pleased with the way they started the game, scoring inside two minutes, then matched Peterborough’s intensity and used their quality to take control.
He said: “I don’t think necessarily it was probably our best performance. Maybe a bit harsh. I thought in spells in the game we threatened to take the game away from them.
“Credit to the players for starting the way we did. I know Robbie [Savage – United manager], I know his personality, I know his team talks and what he wants from his team, especially at the start of the game. So the idea was to match that and then show our quality to take the game away from them.
“We kind of did that with the first goal and then we killed their energy and the intensity a little bit. But then we fell a little bit to that level and it was a little bit slow at times.”
The Luton manager was particularly pleased with the way his side defended after Peterborough threatened to get back into the contest, securing a clean sheet after conceding late goals in recent matches, with centre half Mads Andersen, in particular, winning 100 per cent of his aerial duals.
“Credit to the boys because I thought in the second half, especially after the goal, there was a period where they [Peterborough] really threatened our box. And I felt comfortable.
“I looked at Mads, I looked at George [Johnston]. I think they’re developing a nice partnership together. They look like they love defending the box, which you have to do. JJ [Joe Johnson] helped and Izzy [Isaiah Jones] is exceptional in one-v-ones. He’s getting better at playing in the back four.”
Wilshere also singled out 20-year-old left back Johnson, who came into the side for Naismith and only his fourth league appearance of the season, praising the young defender’s response after making mistakes during the match.
“That’s what I like the most about JJ’s performance today. There was a couple of mistakes, but you can’t dwell on it. You’re playing against a good player who can beat you or he’ll creep up on you when you’re on the ball,” he said.
“Maybe he can be more decisive at times with the ball, but forgetting about it, accepting it, it’s a game of football where mistakes are going to happen, and he came back and I thought he probably got stronger as the game went on. So credit to him for that.”
The manager stressed that Luton’s defensive work was not simply down to the back four, with the whole team contributing to the clean sheet through their pressing and willingness to compete.
“It’s not just the back line, Sheasy [James Shea] as well. We talk about defending with 11. I thought at times our high press was really good, which stops them getting there, but accepting, at times, they are going to get into our box and we have to defend it,” he said.
With the victory Luton’s sixth game in 21 days, Wilshere also praised the contribution of his substitutes and the competition for places within the squad, insisting the standards set by those currently in the team were helping drive others on.
“The players on the pitch, the ones that have been playing recently, they set the culture. They set the culture of everything,” he said.
“Players watching from the side, looking on and thinking, ‘To get in this team, this is what I have to do.’ Credit to everyone who got on the pitch and in the last few games. I think the subs have made a difference.
“We need to keep it going like that. We need competition for places. We’ve got players coming back. When players get on the pitch, they have to recognise it’s a moment to show and keep your shirt.”
Wilshere believes the consistency of his players’ approach has been just as important as the quality they have shown during the winning run, pointing to their response to setbacks and their ability to compete for second balls.
“It’s consistency and you can see, [it] probably wasn’t our most fluid game. At times we’ve done OK, but it wasn’t our most fluid game. But [it’s] the consistency of doing the things that you can control.
“So your reaction to a giveaway, your acceptance that it’s not always going to go our way, how good we are in duels, how good we are in aerial duels, and then we want to land on second balls. We’ve done that really well over the last four or five games.
“We keep highlighting it to the players. It’s a really obvious message for me that we keep doing them things. That gives you the basis of a performance and we’ve got quality that can hurt teams.”
Despite moving up to fourth in the league after four successive wins and five in six games, Wilshere insisted the league position would not change the way his side approached their work, with a trip to league leaders and top scorers Huddersfield Town up next on Tuesday.
“Four wins in a row is nice because we need the momentum. That’s the first I’ve heard about the league table,” he told the BBC.
“We have to focus on every game. We said that last time during the tough times, so you can’t now, when you start winning and going up the league, start focusing on that. It’s not that.
“It’s our process. We have to recover now, we have to look at what we’ve done well. Some things we need to get better and get ready for a tough game. Huddersfield are where they are for a reason and we’ve got them on Tuesday. So stay humble and keep working.”
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