Jack Wilshere has credited Luton Town’s dramatic late-season surge to a mentality shift within his squad, insisting their ability to “deal with adversity” and “live and breathe” his methods has transformed their campaign.
The Hatters head into their final game of the League One season at Bolton Wanderers knowing victory will give them a chance of reaching the play-offs, with defeats for at least one of Bradford, Stevenage or Stockport’s also needing to go their way. Though there is a scenario that a draw could still be good enough if Stevenage lose.
They are permutations that looked highly unlikely just weeks ago. The Hatters have never been in the top six under Wilshere’s tenure, which began in October. Before that, August 2025 was the last time Town were in the play-off picture.
And between mid-January and early March, Luton were picking up fewer than a point per game, which was form that would have left them battling relegation across a full season. And having been relegated in each of the last two seasons, the club was in a tough place. Promotion was the stated pre-season aim, so fans were angry and there seemed to be new depths when they thought rock bottom had been reached.
When Town hit the self destruct button to snatch a 3-2 defeat from the jaws of victory against Reading on March 7 the promotion dream looked over, as the Royals leapfrogged Town into the top six and looked odds on to make the play-offs at the Hatters’ expense.
But, in the 11 games since, have won all but three games, when they settled for a draw, plus added a Vertu Trophy final triumph at Wembley Stadium.
In the league, since March 10, however, they have been operating at a title-winning pace, taking 24 points from 30 available to thrust themselves back into contention. That would equate to 110 points across a whole campaign, which is more than runaway title winners Lincoln City can amass.
Despite all of the club’s success in becoming the first ever to go from the non-league to the Premier League — achieved inside a remarkable decade — Luton has not gone on a run like they’re currently enjoying since winning the Conference in 2013/14.
Wilshere believes that shift has come from within the group, rather than any single tactical tweak.
“It’s been frustrating at times,” he said on the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast, adding: “I felt there were times where we were playing OK in games and then we’d let it slip or we’d give away a goal and then didn’t have the resilience throughout the whole team to bounce back in those moments.
“And we credit the players because that’s on them. That’s when they have to find that, to work on that, to go through those moments together, to stay together, to stick to what we were asking them to do.
“Because a lot of times it’s easy for a coach to stand in front of a group of players and say, ‘this is the way’, the players are the ones who have to execute it, and they have to live and breathe it every day, and there’s no hiding place in this game.
“You have to work hard and I know it’s cliché, but it’s that. It’s, every day, working hard. It’s trying to improve individually to help the team and the players have been outstanding.”
Wilshere expanded on his feelings, pointing not only to the squad but to a wider shift across the club during a difficult campaign.
He said: “I’m really proud. I’m really proud of, number one, the players because it is about the players. As I said, they’re the guys that have to go out and deal with the adversity that they have done and come through it and stick together.
“But I’m proud of everyone at the club. When I came into the club, I felt there was a lack of inspiration, a lack of hope with the journey they’ve been on. I mean that through the staff, the training ground, the physios, the medical team, and everyone’s stuck together.
“It’s not always been easy, we’ve had some long away trips, difficult away trips, and every time that we’ve had to go again, the staff have been there to help the players. So yeah, I’m really proud of everyone.
“We’re not there yet. We’re definitely not there yet. I know we’ve got an opportunity on Saturday, which we’re going to give everything for, because we’ve worked so hard to get into this position, but this is also a plan that we have to keep going with.”
Despite the upturn, Wilshere was keen to stress that the improvement has not come from abandoning his principles, but from persistence and gradual evolution.
“There were some moments in the season, and don’t get me wrong, we’ve adapted in some games. I think about the Bolton game [a 1-1 draw] at home after the Barnsley result [a 5-0 defeat] away from home, we changed, we went a little bit more direct, same at Huddersfield in the same week [a 2-1 win].
“I’ve always said we want to be a team that has the ability to do both. I think you have to have the ability to do both because if you go into a game with an idea and that’s not working, you need to have a plan B.
“We’ve done that and, as I said, we’re not there yet, but we’ve definitely improved a lot.”
That upturn in results has also reconnected the team with supporters, something Wilshere views as central to the club’s identity. There have been points in the season where he and captain Kal Naismith have clashed with individuals in the crowd, while Jordan Clark is one of several players that have tried to talk with furious fans in the stands after difficult results.
“That was really important, part of the job for me because I know it, I grew up in Hitchin, I played here when I was a young kid, I used to go in the stands and watch it,” the manager said of the improving relationship with fans.
“One thing about the Luton fans is they’re very, very loyal. They’ve been frustrated at times, which we understand, but also, in my opinion, there’s nothing better when you go through that together and then come out of the other side and the fans start to believe again.
“We’ve still got a job to do with that because we have to be consistent with the behaviours that the fans want to see.”
Attention now turns to Bolton, where Luton must overcome one of the division’s strongest home records to keep their season alive — the Trotters have lost just once this term at the Tough Sheet Stadium.
“It is another game of football, but obviously there’s more on it. And I think, as a group, we have to accept that,” Wilshere said, adding: “We understand what we’re going into, we understand the context and let’s use it.
“Let’s not use it as pressure and yeah, we have to win, win, win. Of course, we know that, but what the players have been really good at this season is following a plan, is sticking to what we know will win us a game and that’s where we have to go into it.
“We’re confident going into it. We’re hungry to win the game and I think when you’re confident and you’re hungry and you’re humble as well — which we’ve had enough experiences away from home this year to keep us humble — then we feel that we can go and win a game.”
Around 3,000 Luton supporters are expected to make the trip to Greater Manchester, something Wilshere believes could prove decisive.
“I’ve heard there’s over 3,000 supporters going. So we have to use that as well. And that’s amazing and truly grateful for that because it wasn’t always that way this season,” Wilshere said.
“For the ones that are travelling up on the day, thank you so, so much because honestly, it helps. It really does help. I’ve said that this season, it helps me, but also I hear the players talking about it in the changing room.
“It could be a big day for us all. Luton’s a family and it definitely is. We’re going to need them and ‘thank you’ to them.”
The fans view…
For more of the interview with Wilshere, his assistant Chris Powell, and some of his players, watch the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast, filmed at the fan group’s awards bash on Tuesday, where the pundit panel including our man James Cunliffe look ahead to the Bolton game and all the implications…
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