Jack Wilshere has revealed how Luton Town’s players and staff confronted the shock of their 5-2 defeat at Mansfield Town before producing the perfect response against Stockport County on Wednesday night
The Hatters were beaten heavily at the One Call Stadium on Sunday, just days after their impressive performance against Premier League Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Carabao Cup.
The Hatters had gone into the Mansfield game having not lost a league match since March, before conceding five unanswered goals in a devastating 57-minute spell.
But Luton immediately bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Stockport at Kenilworth Road and Wilshere admitted the Mansfield defeat had hit everyone hard.
“There were so many things that were wrong with it,” the Luton boss said, adding: “I think the biggest thing I felt in the dressing room after, for the next 24 hours, was a little bit of shock from everyone — myself, the players, the staff — especially after what we, the run we’ve been on.
“So to come back and produce that type of performance [against Stockport] with energy and desire like that — to defend our box, to protect everything, to when we lost the ball and they played through our press, to run back and get set before pressing again. [I’m] really proud of them.”
He added: “After the game Sunday, we looked at the goals. I don’t always think that’s the best thing to do, but I think actually it was a good thing to do, because the players have got emotion as well,” he said.
“And they [players] spoke about it. And the coach drive home was quiet. It was tough. It was a rough night Sunday.”
The Luton boss and his coaching staff then stayed behind to work out how to get the team ready for Stockport.
“Me and the staff — we stayed there until really, really late. I don’t even think some of them went home,” Wilshere said. “Looking at it and how we approached the next few days, because we needed a response.”
But Wilshere felt the answer was not simply to criticise the players. They also needed to be lifted after a chastening defeat.
“While we knew we had to show some things that we can’t accept and the players won’t accept, we also knew that to get a response out of them, we had to give them some energy and some love,” he said. “And credit to the staff for that.
“Because I was low on Monday — I was low, and poorly — and Tim [Corcoran] and Foles [Kevin Foley] and Pilks [Kevin Pilkington] were around the players, trying to lift them. And they got the response they wanted.”
That response was particularly pleasing for Wilshere, who added: “I think after a game like that, it’s easy for players to start saying things or pointing fingers at each other. And I never felt that.
“There were some hard conversations between players, between staff. We had a really good meeting. But I never felt like there was pointing fingers or anything. The unity tonight was really important.”
Despite speaking after his team’s response with a win over Stockport, he manager also believes the Mansfield defeat can ultimately prove useful if his players learn from it.
“Yes, it hurt and we don’t want it to happen. And I know it hurt the fans, and it hurt me. And we definitely didn’t want it to happen,” he said. “But the message is really clear — it’s there for the players to see. And sometimes that is quite powerful. Let’s see how we use it.”
On Wednesday night, the Hatters used it to claim their first clean sheet in the league this season and their first at home since November 2025, having shipped ten goals in the three league games before. At the time it meant Luton had the leakiest defence in the division.
“Clean sheets are so important,” said Wilshere, adding: “I look at a lot of the goals — I think about the first game at Reading, we gave away some goals. The second game was Notts County. OK, the first goal and then the second goal we didn’t defend.
“We’re aware. This is a team thing. This is a squad thing. All of us, me included, we have to improve that. We have to keep working at it. It’s everyone. It’s a collective thing that we need to improve on.”
For three seasons now, Town have had the propensity to put in one-off poor performances with heavy defeats like at Mansfield. They’ve shipped five goals on at least one occasion in the last three seasons, including this one, but after each thumping, they’ve responded by winning the next game.
Wilshere was in charge last term, when Luton lost 5-0 to Barnsley, but Town turned it around to beat Huddersfield in the following game, three days later.
“I remember the last time — Huddersfield — and it actually felt a little bit similar to that [against Stockport], where you’re playing against a good team in the division . Probably, Stockport liked to dominate the ball more than Huddersfield did last year. But yeah, a good team in this division. They’ve got pedigree and they’ve got good players. And you need a response. And the response was there. It was there for everyone to see.
“And I want the players to really see it and feel it, because there’s a big difference, in my opinion, from energy and commitment, relentlessness, everything we speak about, and what we plan for this season. So yeah, it was important that we bounced straight back.
“We built an identity, and in that identity were some non-negotiables and some spirit of how we want to act and how we want to behave. And we didn’t see that [at Mansfield] — which was a shock — but the most important thing was that we stopped it there and that was done. And we learned from it. We knew it, we looked at it. And we moved on from it.”
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