Jack Wilshere praised the “unity” running through his Luton Town side after they earned their first win of his reign as Lamine Fanne’s first Football League goal for the club proved the difference and a vital late goal-line clearance from debutant Hakeem Odoffin proved the difference.
The Hatters boss watched his players produce their most complete performance of the season at Sixfields as his side bounced back from last weekend’s disappointment against Mansfield.
Fanne was one of those who stepped up in the second half, his energy and persistence rewarded with the decisive strike in the 77th minute, on his 24th appearance for the Hatters.
“He’s outstanding, I thought, today,” Wilshere said. “Of course, there’s times where he loses the ball or he makes the wrong decision, but we can help him with that. The one thing you do see from him, he’s on the front foot, he’s got loads and loads of energy. He wants to press, he doesn’t shy away from the ball, he wants the ball. And he’ll be important for us, definitely.”
On the victory, which saw him celebrate with a trio of fist pumps in front of the travelling Town faithful after the final whistle, Wilshere said: “[I’m] over the moon. I’m really, really happy for the players. I think they deserve that. I think the work they’ve done and the preparation they’ve done since I’ve been here has been outstanding and last week was disappointing. It was.
“We felt we had some good control in the game, but some moments we missed out on and we were punished. I think the job today was to still dominate but minimise their moments and we did that and I think we deserved it today.”
The Luton boss was full of admiration for the collective effort on show, especially in the closing stages. “They’re [fans] outstanding and ever since I’ve been here I’ve been speaking about unity and what you see on the pitch is unity, in my opinion,” he told the BBC.
“Kal [Naismith] missing a header at the end, but Haks’ there and clearing up for him and celebrating it like it’s a goal and then hugging each other. I thought Kal was absolutely outstanding as well, our captain, leading the way.”
He added: “I talk a lot about unity and I talk about me, I talk about the players, I talk about the staff, but that includes the fans as well and they can really help us and you saw that today.”
Substitute Odoffin’s dramatic clearance capped a remarkable bow after recovering from surgery, while Izzy Jones made his first appearance of the season following a stress fracture in his back – and played a major part in the winning goal.
Wilshere said: “For them players to come back and feel the unity as well is massive and they helped – Izzy got an assist and how Haks cleared off the line. The intensity of this league, you need everyone and we’re certainly happy that they’re back and hopefully we can get a few more back.”
After a first half in which Luton dominated possession without creating clear chances, Wilshere admitted he asked his players to show more patience and composure after the break.
“We just spoke a little bit about being calm in the final third and finding an extra pass, maybe or not trying to force it through one side, trusting possession a little bit and circulating it,” he explained.
“I think they’ve done that. We’ve got some quality players. I think our strength is in the final third. And if we can force teams to defend in their half and we can circulate the ball, then we can create problems.”
Wilshere also made several changes from the side beaten last weekend, with the reshuffle paying off.
“I said to the players before, we’re going to need everyone,” he said. “I felt a little bit bad for Mads Anderson because he didn’t do nothing wrong last week, but I felt like we needed a little bit better balance in the central areas in defence and I thought it worked. Kal was excellent. He allowed us to step in that side and make some diagonals or find passes, which is one of his strength.”
With two cup fixtures coming up next week, the first in the FA Cup against National League high-flyers Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday, Wilshere hinted that rotation will continue as he looks to build momentum and fitness throughout the squad.
“As much as it is a chance to do that, it’s also a chance for the players that haven’t been playing to show something,” he said. “When a new manager comes in we’re building and we don’t want that to stop, we want a good feeling to go. So we need to be ready for Tuesday, we need to get a good performance, hopefully get a good result, leads into Friday and we keep a momentum going like that.”
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