Luton Town boss Jack Wilshere has insisted Kasey Palmer will still have an important role to play for the Hatters this season, despite leaving the midfielder out of the starting line-up in recent games, while the manager provided an update on several Hatters making their way back to fitness.
Palmer was influential after joining the club on loan from Hull in January but has recently found himself in and out of the side for the last three games, as Wilshere looks to manage his squad during a demanding run of fixtures.
But the Jamaica international came off the bench on Wednesday to add an extra spark in Town’s midfield as they came from behind to beat Northampton in the Vertu Trophy semi-final and book a place in the Wembley final on April 12.
The Luton head coach admitted the midfielder may not be happy about being left out but believes that reaction could help drive him to another level.
“Kasey will play games. I’ve spoken to him a lot,” Wilshere said, adding: “I think sometimes when you come in, and you hit the ground running, that it’s then hard to keep that momentum going. Especially when the team didn’t perform – I think about the Cardiff game, I think about the Wigan game – and it’s then difficult to keep that momentum going.
“And I’m also a believer that to try and help players and keep them hungry, that sometimes you can take them out and then get them to go again and they go to the next level. So, yeah, Kasey is important for us, is a top player, as we can see, and he will play games.”
Wilshere also acknowledged Palmer’s competitive streak, suggesting the midfielder may use his omission in recent games as motivation.
“I feel like sometimes he’s probably annoyed with me for not playing him. And, probably, there’s that little bit about him where he thinks, ‘I’m going to show him’, which I don’t mind, I quite like and I thought you saw that on Wednesday. Hopefully you can keep that going.”
Hakeem Odoffin has come through Wednesday’s battle, with Wilshere revealing he was only withdrawn because of some cramp, having only played twice this calendar year, and only ten times all term.
Wilshere added: “There’s some players that we have to make decisions on because we want them available between now and the rest of the season, and we have to manage the squad and rotate, and Haks will be one of them that we have to make a decision on because he hasn’t played that much football. He gave a lot of energy on Wednesday and let’s see how he is.”
Wilshere also confirmed that winger Isaiah Jones missed out recently due to illness rather than injury after struggling during 1-1 draw with Port Vale last weekend.
“He was ill at half time at Port Vale. We made the decision to keep him on to see if he can carry on. We obviously then took him off in the game, but for the next couple of days he was he was ill,” Wilshere said.
“So we made the decision on Monday or Tuesday to give him a few days to recover and focus on getting back for the weekend.”
There is also a fitness concern surrounding striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who is still dealing with a foot issue and remains a doubt, having missed Wednesday’s trophy game.
“He’s still got a little bit of pain on his, on his foot. it’s not bad, but it’s also painful for him,” Wilshere said.
“So, yeah, I think he was with the physios today outside, so we’ll have to make a decision on him again. But, we also want to give him time because he hasn’t played that much football this season.”
Elijah Adebayo is “very close” to returning and is in contention for the Reading game tomorrow. The striker was also touted as a possible inclusion in midweek, but Wilshere explained that the decision was ultimately about timing and squad balance rather than any new setback.
“We left it until, I think it was 3pm on match day, to make that decision because we wanted him involved a few reasons,” Wilshere said.
“Because, number one, how he can help the team? And the presence he has on the pitch. But also I know what he means to the fans, to everyone at the club. And he’s worked really hard to get to where he is.
“When we looked at it and then we looked at the balance of the squad and the bench and what we had available and the players on the pitch, how much they could play, we needed another defender on the pitch. So yeah, it was a little bit early for him, but he is very close.”
Meanwhile January transfer deadline day signing Sverre Sandal, who hasn’t yet featured, is expected to get his first minutes for the club with the development side as he works towards full fitness.
Wilshere said: “There’s an under 21 game I believe on Monday which he’ll play in.”
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