Luton Town boss Jack Wilshere admitted his side were “holding on” in a disappointing second-half display as the Hatters had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Doncaster Rovers.
Kasey Palmer’s first goal for the club on 27 minutes – a superb strike from the edge of the area – put the Hatters in pole position, but like their previous three games, they could not hold on to the lead and Brandon Hanlan levelled for Rovers on the hour, taking advantage of the visitors’ fragile backline with some route one football.
Nigel Lonwijk was at fault as he missed a header, allowing the Rovers man to run through on goal and steer beyond Josh Keeley, who was by far the busier keeper. But the defender did combine at the death with Joe Johnson – who had earlier cleared off the line – to deny a late sickener and take a point, even though it meant the Dutchman was stretchered off after the final whistle.
But the result extended Luton’s miserable run away from home to 10 matches without a victory and six league games on the spin without a win, with Wilshere acknowledging his side were hanging on at times after the break.
“It didn’t feel like that in the first half,” the manager said, adding: “I felt like we could go on and really be aggressive in the second half, try and get behind them, try and play a bit more in their half and we couldn’t quite manage to do that. We allowed them to build some momentum in the game.
“They scored a goal that we won’t be happy with. And then it felt like a lot of times we were we were kind of holding on.”
Despite the disappointment of letting the lead slip, Wilshere praised the commitment shown by his players as they defended desperately to preserve a point.
“Credit to the players in that moment because you have to defend your box,” he told the BBC, “It felt like, at times, there were clear moments when they should score and we came in with a last-ditch tackle, which shows to me how much the players are in and they care.
“We won’t be happy with the second half, but if you can’t win a game, don’t lose the game.”
Luton had looked in control before the interval and Wilshere admitted he was unsure why the performance dropped after the restart, as has happened so often, with the Hatters unable to deal with the second balls that allowed Doncaster to gain a foothold.
There were still moments that highlighted the determination within the squad, with Joe Johnson producing two dramatic goal-line clearances to keep Doncaster at bay.
Wilshere believes those moments show the spirit within the group, even if results have not followed on the road.
“You can see how how much they care, how much they’re in, how much they’re trying to defend their goal, trying to hold on to a point that is important to us,” he said.
“We wanted all three, of course we did. And we probably felt like going in a half time it was there for us to take.
“But it happens in football and we talk a lot about our confidence and where we’re at. And you can still see that we need to keep working on that. We need to keep trying to give the players belief.”
Town travel to Wycombe on Saturday
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