Jack Wilshere admitted Luton were left hurting after conceding what he described as “cheap goals” in a damaging 3-2 defeat at struggling Reading, as Cohen Bramall apologised to fans and the manager after his part in the late winner.
Having hauled themselves back from two goals down to level the League One match, while being in the ascendancy, Luton immediately conceded again with Royals striker Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan accepting to gift to end Town’s four-game unbeaten run and left Wilshere to rue his side’s failure to manage the game.
“It hurts,” Wilshere said. “It does hurt a lot. You feel it on the pitch. There’s only one team in it, we’re taking control, we’re dominating. Then you get back to 2-2 and there’s a feeling like a sigh of relief. We have to manage that moment better because we have to keep our foot on their throat and keep pushing. But we didn’t.”
Wilshere repeatedly returned to the theme of soft goals, particularly in moments when Luton had all the momentum.
“We keep conceding cheap goals and we have to start understanding at that moment that they really matter,” he told the BBC. “When you come back into a game there’s a natural sigh of relief, but we have to manage it and recognise that we’re the only team that’s going to win the game.
“We miss a header, there’s a ball behind us and we concede again. That’s exactly what they wanted. They wanted to see the game out.”
The decisive moment came barely two minutes after Nigel Lonwijk’s stunning equaliser, with Ehibhatiomhan punishing Luton, as Bramall missed a header that allowed Derrick Williams the space to thread a pass to match-winner.
“It was a set piece,” Wilshere said on LTFC+. “That second phase we defend well, third phase we don’t defend well and we concede again. That’s probably the toughest one to take since I’ve been here because I thought we showed a lot of quality and a lot of control.”
At full time, Bramall along with Teden Mengi, went over to the away end to speak with some frustrated fans, where an altercation also broke out among supporters.
“He cares,” Wilshere said of the full back. “When I walked into the dressing room he was holding his hands up and saying ‘sorry’. I made it clear it wasn’t good enough, but also how many moments Cohen has produced for us?
“I’m proud of him for holding his hand up. He’s been outstanding for us and he will continue to be because he’s got character in him that I like and we’re going to need him.”
Wilshere stressed that while Bramall was involved in the decisive moment, responsibility did not rest on one player alone.
“If you look around the pitch there were probably other moments where players made mistakes but we weren’t punished,” he said. “That’s why it feels bad. It’s a crucial moment.”
Despite the late collapse, Wilshere praised the character shown to fight back through Jordan Clark’s strike and Lonwijk’s first goal for the club, even if he accepted that constantly needing that resilience was a problem in itself.
“There has to be something in that character and resilience that will help us later in the season,” he said. “But ultimately we want to stop having to show it. We need a different type of character, one that really keeps control and stops transitions.”
Wilshere also acknowledged the reaction of the Luton supporters, who largely applauded the team off despite their frustration.
“They’re frustrated and they should be frustrated with the goals,” he said. “But they can see our intention to dominate the game and to attack. They were good tonight and we appreciate the support at the end because that helps the players.”
For Wilshere, he left Berkshire convinced Luton had been the better side but were still undone by familiar failings.
“We walk away with zero points and we’re not happy with that,” the manager said. “The best way we get where we want to go is keep building how we play and stop conceding cheap goals. That has to change.”
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