Luton scraped a second successive League One draw in a week out of another poor performance, but this time it was scant consolation against the previously goal-shy basement boys of Port Vale, as boss Jack Wilshere said his side lacked belief.
The visitors, who were on a new club record-setting run for drawing a blank – with more than 9-and-a-half hours of not scoring a League One goal – bagged two either side of the break. And, for 16 minutes, until Mads Andersen levelled, they threatened to claim their first league win in nine.
It came after Town snatched a last-gasp point at Leyton Orient in midweek, when Gideon Kodua’s 96th minute equaliser was their first and only shot on target.
Wilshere admitted he was left “frustrated” by the Port Vale display adding: “Tuesday feels like we gained a point and today feels like we lost two points.
“I need to watch it back to have an actual real clear opinion, but I felt like we lacked a little bit of belief, which I know at times has been difficult here this season.
“And we have to constantly look at ways that we can try and lift them because, generally, I’ve got so much belief in these players and I want them to have the same thing for themselves. But at the minute it’s lacking a little bit.”
Perhaps the only player not affected was Cohen Bramall who, as well as a man-of-the-match display, fired in an unbelievable free-kick to break the deadlock. His third of the season, and arguably his best, was an inch-perfect top corner strike and it should have set the under par Hatters towards victory.
Not that they had not played well until that point. In fact, Vale had looked sharper for large periods, but their long run without a goal offered hope for the hosts.
That evaporated when not a single Hatter got near Ben Waine, as he headed home Ruari Paton’s free-kick just before the break. There were four Luton centre halves on the pitch, though it was Jacob Brown who lost the Valiants’ first goalscorer since October 11. Cue the boos from Kenilworth Road when the whistle sent the players back to the changing rooms.
And that reaction got worse nine minutes into the restart when Town failed to clear their lines numerous times before Paton’s shot was parried by Josh Keeley into the path of Devante Cole, who had the simple task of a tap-in at the back post.
“You’re not fit to wear the shirt” came the riposte from frustrated fans, who would have seen that coming from the moment the second half kicked off, such was Port Vale’s early dominance, which made them look more like the side just outside the play-off places, and not five points adrift at the bottom of the division.
Boss Wilshere threw on reinforcements and the Hatters did improve with Jordan Clark on the pitch from the 62nd minute, though the midfielder wasn’t the game-changer he had been at Leyton Orient in midweek. But there was an increased onus on balls played into feet, instead of lumped long for the giant visiting defenders to gobble up time and again against an ineffective Brown. Played in his preferred number nine role, but offering little to say he should keep the position, he got no change from them and he was withdrawn as Nahki Wells returned from a short absence, joining Clark as part of the cavalry.
And Luton did draw level, but it had little to do with midfield ingenuity and more to do with Mads Andersen bundling the ball in from a corner.
At least it gave Town added impetus that had not been there before, but even with eight added minutes played against ten men after George Byers limped off when Vale had exhausted all the substitutions, the hosts could not magic up any quality. Bramall tried with a series of lung-busting runs, but the Hatters could not force a late winner.
The consequence was yet more boos at the final whistle, though perhaps not as vitriolic had Town lost, though it’s now only one win in six third-tier tests.
But it’s clear that Wilshere still has to find numerous solutions for a squad that many inside Kenilworth Road today have lost faith in, let alone against a worrying lack belief in themselves.
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