Luton only had themselves to blame after a glut of wasted chances let Fleetwood off the hook before a penalty shootout defeat ended their FA Cup run.
Town boss Jack Wilshere was blunt about a tie he felt should have been put to bed long before Teden Mengi’s stoppage time equaliser dragged the second round replay into extra time. Luton twice pulled level through Jerry Yates and Mengi yet they still left Highbury Stadium beaten 4-2 on penalties after Jacob Brown and Liam Walsh saw almost identical efforts saved.
Wilshere said the pattern has become too familiar.
“It is frustrating because we felt like it was a real opportunity to progress,” he told the BBC. “We made some really good opportunities in the first half. We did not take them and then we gave away cheap goals. That is always tough.”
He said the story of the night was written early. Luton were the slicker side, with Zack Nelson and Lasse Nordås both passing up chances to punish the Cod Army.
Fleetwood grew in belief and twice capitalised, leaving Wilshere shaking his head at another game where the hardest chances went in while the clearest openings came to nothing.
“It is not an individual thing, it is a team thing because it has been probably a few games where it has felt like that,” he said. “They do not need to do much to create or score a goal and then we create so many moments but we do not quite take it and we probably then score the most difficult ones.”
He insisted positives were there, but taking chances remains an issue.
“The most important thing for me is that you arrive there, but then it gets to the point where you have to score,” Wilshere said. “We have to be better in those moments and show a little bit more calm.”
Even in extra time, given the boost of Mengi’s fine strike to get them there, Wilshere felt Luton did enough to win the tie without relying on penalties.
“I felt like we were pushing in extra time,” he said. “We tried to get a few more players on the last line while still trying to manage their transitions because that was a threat. Frustrating.”
He defended his squad rotation over the past week of cup fixtures and said the players brought in had earned the chance.
“We are always thinking about the balance of the squad, the morale of the squad but also players that deserve to play off what they have done really well on Tuesday,” he said.
“They deserved their moment again. They are closer to it. They have had two 90 minutes and if we need them they are ready.”
While he said the attack must be more ruthless yet stressed the team are doing the right things in the build up.
“The most important thing is we are creating them,” he said. “Hopefully something will change our luck or we have to keep working on it. Keep practising in training. Keep finding different finishes, different ways to arrive.”
Town now return to League One action on Tuesday night with a trip to Leyton Orient, who were also knocked out of the cup by lower league opposition, with the message clear from the manager: chances must start turning into goals.
Be the first to comment