Jack Wilshere expects Emilio Lawrence to come back a better player after the young midfielder struggled to make an immediate impact following his return move to Luton Town.
Lawrence featured in Luton’s opening four matches since returning for a second successive loan spell at Kenilworth Road, but after a 5-2 defeat at Mansfield ten days ago, he has been omitted from the match day squad. So all eyes will be on tonight’s short trip to Stevenage.
The winger’s current situation is similar to his half season spell at Luton last term, where he was thrown straight into action but made slow progress in a five-game run before being left out of the team for a month. After which he came back into the team and was an important part of Town’s unbeaten finish to the campaign.
Wilshere believes the 20-year-old’s early struggles this time around were understandable after a disrupted pre-season with Manchester City before he arrived in Bedfordshire a month ago.
The Luton boss says Lawrence had spent much of the summer waiting for a loan move before joining the Hatters. Many Premier League teams held on to their younger players for longer this summer due to their established stars returning back late for pre-season duty after the World Cup. It left Lawrence short of preparation compared with his new team-mates.
“He’s trained well since he got here, and that’s why he went straight in,” Wilshere said.
“Maybe the first two games I could understand if he was a little bit off the pace because of the pre-season he had — a lot of players waiting just to go out on loan.”
Wilshere believes Lawrence needed time to adjust to the demands of his new surroundings and says his recent experience will ultimately benefit him.
“He needed those couple of games,” he said, adding: “I think when he comes back — and of course he will get his opportunity again — he’ll be better for it, stronger mentally. And I have no doubt we’ll see the same reaction.”
The manager has repeatedly stressed the importance of giving young players time to adapt to the demands of senior football, something he believes is particularly relevant to Lawrence.
“From my experience of being at the academy, at times it can feel like a different sport,” Wilshere said. “In academy football, it’s very much — we play, we play. And that’s not a dig at that; that’s just the way the development works.”
Lawrence’s next opportunity will therefore come with an expectation that he has learned from his early experiences, rather than being written off because of them.
“You need some time to adapt, and you’ll learn to appreciate the horrible moments that attacking players don’t always think about,” he said, adding: “But he has quality, ability on the ball, and he’s really nimble in one-v-one situations. He’s going to be someone the fans will enjoy watching.”
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