Lasse Nordås left Kenilworth Road with a brace, an assist and the man of the match award after last night’s 4-0 win over Exeter, with boss Jack Wilshere explaining how the striker can be more than a forgotten man for Luton.
It was exactly three months since his last goal and the manager has only utilised the Norwegian in the Vertu Trophy. In the league, he’s not even featured in the squad since October 25, which was Wilshere second game in charge.
But against Exeter, Nordås seized the opening in style which an impactful first half, in which Town were 3-0 up by half time. All the goals involved him.
Wilshere said: “My message has been the same to him to all the players. Of course I’ve got decisions to make. And when I first came in it was Nahki [Wells] starting as a nine and Jerry [Yates] was our option off the bench. And obviously Nahki’s now injured and that’s flipped a little bit.
“There’s an opportunity for Lasse. As a number nine you need to score goals and he scored two tonight. He’s made a goal. He looked dangerous I thought and he’s someone who I’ve really enjoyed working with because his attitude is outstanding. His willingness to first of all know what it is he needs to do to get into the team, but then to go away and try it. He deserves that tonight.”
Still, Wilshere made it clear Nordås’ development hinges on embracing a more physical streak. The Norwegian’s size already gives Luton a different dimension, yet the manager wants him to wield it with greater authority across the pitch.
He said: “I wanted him to be more aggressive. He is quite possibly the nicest man I’ve ever met which is of course important. He’s good, he’s humble, he wants to learn, but sometimes on the pitch I want him to be a bit more aggressive and he’s showing it, he is. In training he’ll be aggressive and then he’ll say ‘oh are you all right?’ to the person. I say ‘no don’t worry about that. Don’t ask him if he’s all right. Get on next action’.”
Wilshere now hopes that the striker can leans fully into the combative demands of League One, though Town face an FA Cup clash at Fleetwood on Saturday, which may bring another opportunity for Nordås.
The manager said: “He obviously brings something because of his size and the stature he has and we can probably play a little bit more into him and it can stick and he can bring others into it. I thought he done that well tonight.
“When you are that guy the opposition should know that as well, so they’re going to try and be aggressive with you. They’re going to try and push you, they’re going to try and bump you from the back and he has to be ready for that. This league is about that and I think he’s adapting to it and it starts in training and that’s what we want from him.”
1 Trackback / Pingback