Luton Town’s festive momentum came to an abrupt halt at Exeter City as Jack Wilshere’s side created next to nothing to start 2026 with a dismal defeat after a joyful Christmas goal glut.
After seven goals without reply against Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient to sign off on the previous year, they marked the New Year and their manager’s 34th birthday with a concerning lack of cutting edge and were undone by a set piece.
Wilshere again pointed to mentality and threat as key issues in an increasingly familiar away-day pattern where they’ve not won in four League One trips.
And against one of the traditionally better possession outfits in the division, Luton gobbled up 62 per cent of the ball but failed, officially, to register a single shot on target, though a case could be made for a late Jordan Clark shot that seemed to be fingertipped by keeper Joe Whitworth, only for referee Matthew Russell to award a goal-kick.
Even so, it was not good enough for a Hatters side, with five changes, that missed a big opportunity to edge closer to the play-off picture as all seven sides above them in the table dropped points. After a plethora of Christmas presents, this was a familiar case of two steps forward and one step back.
“Yeah, not a great birthday,” the Town boss said. “But if I reflect on 2025, I’m still really honoured to be the manager of Luton Football Club. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and that’s what keeps me going in these tough moments when we’re driving home. It’s my birthday, but we need to go again.”
The manager felt his side showed early signs of control before failing to deal with Exeter’s more direct approach. Jayden Wareham hit the post in the first half before Pierce Sweeney notched the only goal of the game, curling beyond a far busier James Shea on 50 minutes.
“I thought we started the game and took control and showed who we wanted to be today and took the game to them, arrived in some dangerous areas,” he told the BBC. “We allowed them to build a little bit of momentum by playing long balls and we didn’t really deal with them well enough. It’s disappointing.”
Wilshere also pointed to the physical and mental toll of a busy festive schedule, with limited training time and heavy demands on players, as he was without keeper Josh Keeley and top scorer Gideon Kodua, who both picked up knocks.
“The players have given a lot of energy over the last seven to ten days,” he said. “It’s tough in this league. Sometimes when you play two or three games in a row you just need to find a way. You need a different mentality away from home.”
He acknowledged that changes were made with that schedule in mind – which doesn’t relent with a trip to Doncaster in just three days away – but accepted those coming into the side did not fully seize their chance.
“We tried to freshen things up,” Wilshere said. “I understand it’s not always easy for players to come in and perform, especially when you don’t really have much training time in this period. I have to watch it back to see where we couldn’t quite find our rhythm or deal with their long balls well enough. The set piece is disappointing because we’ve been really good at that this season.”
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