Luton manager Jack Wilshere has confirmed that goalkeeper Josh Keeley will return to the Luton Town starting line-up for today’s FA Cup tie against Forest Green Rovers after two months on the sidelines.
Keeley lost his place to James Shea at the start of September, after the 2-1 defeat at Stevenage, but the Hatters boss said the Republic of Ireland international had responded in the right way and deserved the opportunity to play in the first-round tie at Kenilworth Road.
Rather than allowing his disappointment to affect him, Keeley has continued to work and sought feedback from his manager about what was required to regain his place.
On Keeley’s call-up, the Town boss said: “[He] deserves it. Someone that I’ve been in constant communication with, where he’s knocked on my door to see what he has to do to get back in the team, which I like, and [see] what he has to do.
“And part of that is training, training hard, working hard and he’s certainly done that. So he’ll be starting.”
The Hatters will be looking to progress into the second round of the competition for the second successive season after facing the same opponents at this stage last year.
Wilshere said he had kept an eye on Forest Green since that previous meeting last term, partly because of his respect for former manager Robbie Savage, who recently swapped Gloucestershire for Peterborough United. But the Hatters chief warned that Rovers have changed their approach following a change in management.
In fact, rather than have one boss, the National League outfit are experimenting with a radical no manager approach. Instead, coaching trio Jonathan Gould, Josh Bowen and Yan Klukowski take charge of the team
Rovers come into the game on a four-match unbeaten run, while Luton are on a five-game streak, including a seven-year best of four wins on the spin before Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at League One leaders Huddersfield Town.
Town will hope to avoid a repeat of last season’s clash when they went 3-0 up before the hour mark and appeared to be cruising, only to get pegged back with the visitors hitting the woodwork at 3-3 before Gideon Kodua bagged a 90th minute winner to spare Luton’s blushes.
“Forest Green last season when we played them and since that point, I always kept my eye on them a little bit because of Robbie,” said Wilshere.
“So, [it’s] a team that we know from last year. I’ve seen them play this year and obviously over the last few days watched some of their games where the change of management has happened. And there is some clear things that they’re looking to do different. There’s some clear metrics data-wise that they’ve improved on. And it’s a different style.
“We’ll be really prepared going into it with a lot of respect because I’ve got some experience myself with playing against teams in a lower division and you have to give them maximum respect because if you give them time on the ball and you let them do what they want to do, they’re good players and they can hurt you.
“So we will have that approach to the game while trying to impose what we want as well.”
Also, reflecting on last season’s tie with Forest Green, Wilshere added: “I watched the goals back and I think, probably at that moment, a few people and a few staff members said ‘a month ago, or two months ago we’d have lost that game’. So, that was actually a moment where we spoke about the resilience and the character to came through. I think we’ve grown so much since then in terms of that stuff.”
Wilshere also acknowledged the demanding schedule of playing seven league games in three weeks, and said the cup tie offered an opportunity to rotate his side, with Devante Cole, Shandon Baptiste, Benny Benagr and Jayden Luker in contention, after the latter three got some vital minutes with the under-21s on Tuesday to help with their recoveries from injury.
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