Jordan Clark scored and assisted Emilio Lawrence as Luton saw off a spirited Forest Green Rovers to progress in the FA Cup with boss Jack Wilshere admitting it was just important to get the job done in their eighth game in four weeks.
A neat one-two teed up the Manchester City loanee for a fourth minute opener and his first goal of his second spell at Kenilworth Road. Then very little happened until the captain crashed in a second four minutes from the break.
The National League side had the lion’s share of the ball in the second half, but wayward long shots and determined defending kept them at bay as the Hatters avoided a first round banana skin, extending their unbeaten streak to six games in all competitions.
Wilshere said: “Overall, I think when you reflect on this period and the run we’ve been on I think getting the job done today was really important, that we’re in the hat for the next round.
“Now the players have got a few days where they can spend time with their family and switch off from football and make sure that when they come back, they’re ready to go.”
The clash was the polar opposite to last term’s meeting with Rovers at the same stage of the competition, when the Hatters took a three-goal lead, were pegged back and almost lost it before Gideon Kodua scored a late winner.
This was a controlled, comfortable and somewhat mundane affair, even when the visitors commandeered the ball in the second period.
Though that’s a credit to Town’s defence, led by a strong performance from George Johnston and a second half FA Cup debut for Christian Chigozie, after his recall from a loan at Hemel Hempstead.
“I think we started well and [it was] a really good goal, the first goal,” said Wilshere, adding: “We then had an opportunity to really take the game to them and if you give them time to rotate and play, they’ve got some good players and they put it on the sides, they’ve got quick wingers, which are difficult to defend against. They put numbers in your box.
I think the context of what the boys have given and I know we made some changes as well, but even with that, the players that came in have been with the squad and with the team and travelling away and it’s tough. But we did enough.
“I thought we had some nice spells. I thought again, we defended our box really well. With all the stuff they tried to do and put numbers in our box and shots from outside the block. Either we headed them away or we blocked them.”
Wilshere made seven changes to the side after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at League One leaders Huddersfield, with Lawrence joined by Jake Richards, Joe Johnson, Harrison Ashby, Josh Keeley, Dan Gore and Callum Marshall.
And while the team struggled for rhythm, they made the most of their eight shots while Rovers – with 17 efforts, but just two on target – did not. D’Mani Mellor hit the bar with a deflected shot in the 90th minute, but that was as close as Forest Green came to a late consolation.
And on Keeley’s first game between the sticks in two months, he’ll rarely have a less troubled clean sheet to help boost his case for a return to the number one spot in the league.
That will have to wait though as Luton will first await their FA Cup second round opponents in the draw on Monday night. An EFL Trophy game back at Kenilworth Road against Peterborough United, a week on Tuesday, will puncture well-earned international break following the club’s most successful spell for seven years.
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