Jack Wilshere admitted that Luton created enough chances to beat Leyton Orient, but said the Hatters have to “respect a point” after their 1-1 draw.
Town aimed 23 shots towards the visiting goal, but only seven of them hit the target and after Jamie Donley bagged his first goal for the club against his former loan side, keeper Nathan Baxter was comfortably in the way six times.
It was the first time in 12 games that Town have failed to score two goals or more. They’ve had less chances in most of those.
Wilshere said: “I think we learned last year to respect a point. But probably today, when we reflect on the game, I thought we did enough to win the game. I thought we created enough chances.
“I’m happy with the performance. I thought we did really well. Yeah, we could have been more consistent with it in the second half I felt, and taken more control in the final third.
“But everything we asked the players they did, they got success with it. They kept doing it. They didn’t get bored of doing it.
“Clearly, I think new players, they have to understand a little bit more how we want to play. We need to understand each other. Their team-mates need to build their connections.
“I think, overall, we should have won the game, but performance wise happy — and yeah we’ve got work to do.”
This should have been a celebration of Gideon Kodua’s transformation and blossoming into a marauding central midfield playmaker, capped off by a glut of assists and a goal. But all of his man-of-the-match lock-pickers weren’t finished with the same panache. And when he had a chance to score it was so close to the goal, fans were already celebrating the goal as he hit it. That too was denied by determined Leyton Orient defenders and a hand, which in the modern climate, is not a penalty.
Wilshere said: [I’m] happy for Gids, and happy for the team because we want competition for places in there. We’ve got some really good players in there. But Gids got his opportunity and he took it”
For one of the few times this term, in-form striker Nahki Wells should have come away with a hat-trick, but each time his aim found the grateful gloves of Orient stopper Baxter.
Yet, on 25 minutes, when Kodua teed up Jamie Donley for his first Hatters goal against his former loan side, the Bermudan’s misses either side of the opener didn’t look too bad. Town were in front and purring. It was comfortably their best start of the season. That viewpoint began to wobble when Orient equalised.
They’d barely seen the whites of Josh Keeley’s eyes for the preceding 34 minutes, with Town in utter control, opening Orient up at will, just without the killer touch.
That was instead left for Jaze Kabia to apply. He first picked the pocket of a hesitant Mads Andersen and then found the top corner, even despite Keeley getting fingertips on the effort. That was Orient’s first shot.
It interrupted Town’s flow, as did an injury prior to that for Harrison Ashby, which handed Harry Fox his league debut.
Though the visitors hardly wrestled control back, Keeley was still required to keep it level at the break after Donley saw a rocket saved, Hakeem Odoffin hit the post and Kodua saw an unbelievable point-blank block deny him on the goal-line.
After the restart, he put Wells through again, but for a third time the effort was comfortable for Baxter.
Luton were less swashbuckling despite eye-catching bursts from Isaiah Jones and Kasey Palmer, though still the more dominant.
“I think at that point in the game, they sort of turned it into the game that they wanted — like second balls,” Wilshere said.
And because of that, and perhaps tiredness from Wednesday’s exertions against Stockport, Luton only had an Odoffin effort on target to show for their efforts.
So, the Hatters will ultimately look back on first half siege that didn’t get them the points their performance deserved.
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