Luton’s response to their Barnsley humiliation was always going to define the mood around Kenilworth Road, and a 2-1 win over Huddersfield in response helped steady the ground beneath them, showing a side willing to fight their way out of the corner.
Jake Richards bagged his first home league goal for the club by way of a wicked deflection, but then the Hatters showed their mettle after Leo Castledine’s inch-perfect free-kick found the top corner with the Terriers on top for the first time after the hosts dominated the opening half.
But Luton did not crumble and inspired by Lamine Fanne’s best display in an orange shirt, they responded and Jerry Yates poked in the midfielder’s goalbound effort to get Town back to the winning feeling that had been the feature of Wilshere’s first month in charge.
But the Hatters manager still had the weekend’s 5-0 thumping at Oakwell still at the forefront of his mind.
“We got punched in the face Saturday,” Wilshere said. “The most important thing tonight was that we got up, we showed character, we showed passion. It was about desire to win duels, to play forward, to attack with a purpose.” he said.
“Tonight was about the response. The players are the ones who have to execute it. They feel the momentum. We had to find some character and they found it.”
After an encouraging first half Huddersfield levelled. It was another blow to absorb, another moment that could have sent them spiralling. But this time it didn’t.
“In the second half, they score and you get punched in the face again and we have to show even more character,” Wilshere said. “There were probably some voices in their heads telling them we can’t lose this. We found something again and in my opinion we probably deserved it tonight.”
He praised the mentality within the squad and pushed back at those who had questioned it after the 5-0 collapse three days earlier.
“Not one person questioned their character,” he said of the staff and players around the training ground. “Externally, people will question it when you lose 5-0, but we’ve got a belief and a unit in the group that is impressive and we’re going to need that.”
Striker Yates, leading the line with Nahki Wells injured, delivered a performance Wilshere felt was far closer to his strengths.
“Jerry’s a nine and we played more to his strengths tonight,” he said. “He likes to play on his shoulder, he likes to get behind, he likes to smell where the ball’s going to end up and he was good.”
He also singled out Fanne, whose relentless drive dragged Luton out of a shaky spell.
“I think Line was a big part of that,” he said. “He drove the team forward.”
Above all, Wilshere kept returning to his side battling through spells of adversity, something he feels his squad must embrace if they want to climb the table.
“We’re going to have to suffer and we obviously didn’t suffer very well the weekend, but we definitely suffered well today,” he said. “Huddersfield are a top team in this league and they’re going to have players that can hurt you. We have to defend our box and head it and kick it and we’ve done that well enough tonight.”
Be the first to comment