Luton manager Jack Wilshere has been running the rule over Ethon Archer’s first-team potential this week after the end of his loan spell at Cheltenham Town with potential for another loan.
Town signed the winger in the summer from the Robins, when former boss Matt Bloomfield was still in charge, but immediately loaned him back to the League Two outfit for half a season. That came to an end last week and the 23-year-old has been training with the Hatters all this week ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Stevenage.
Luton have a wealth of wingers and this morning added another in the shape of 20-year-old Manchester City loan ace Emilio Lawrence. Wilshere stressed the importance of evaluating players up close before making decisions on their long-term role.
Wilshere told LTFC+: “We wanted to look at Ethon. When I first came to the club he was out on loan and I saw he scored a few goals and I saw a few of his games. The best thing to do in that situation is to get him back and see how he does in training.”
He added: “If he steps up a level we can then assess him from there. There’s quite a lot of interest in him. Naturally when I played that happened as well. We wanted to make sure that we have eyes on him first and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Archer’s involvement in training so far this week has put him in contention for inclusion this weekend, along with new loan capture Lawrence, despite the limited time with the group.
Wilshere said: “Ethan has trained from the beginning of the week but has been a bit limited because of the weather conditions. But yeah, they’re both in contention.”
Wilshere was candid that further movement during the transfer window remains possible, particularly with competition for places in wide areas now intensified by new signings.
Wilshere explained: “We’ve added competition and part of my job is to manage the squad and make sure the players are happy. I think the players get the feel of it and they’ll understand it. There could be some movement as well.”
He confirmed that a final decision on Archer’s immediate future should become clearer once the club have had a few more days to assess his training and how he fits into Wilshere’s plans.
Wilshere said: “We’ll probably make a decision over the next seven or 10 days. Either he’ll stay with us or he’s got a lot of interest from other clubs. So yeah, he’ll be OK.”
The manager reiterated that the club are taking a measured approach with Archer, one that balances the opportunity to contribute to the first team against the benefits of regular minutes elsewhere.
Wilshere said: “It could be that he develops more here or it could be that another loan is the right thing. We’re assessing that and we’ll make the best decision for him and for the club.”
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