Wilshere hails Wells as ‘so much more than a goalscorer’ after Forest Green double

Jack Wilshere praised Nahki Wells for his all-round contribution after the striker scored twice and set up Lamine Fanne in Luton Town’s 4-3 FA Cup victory over Forest Green Rovers.

The experienced forward was central to everything good about Luton’s attacking play as the Hatters surged into a 3-0 lead, before surviving a second-half collapse to edge through to the next round with Gideon Kodua’s late winner.

Wells had come under pressure from fans after last month’s 2-0 defeat to Mansfield where he missed a penalty and minutes later miscued a backpass that was punished with the Stags’ first goal. Some supporters then cheered as the Bermudan was substituted.

But new Hatters boss Wilshere said he has been impressed with Wells’ attitude and influence since arriving at Kenilworth Road, describing the forward as a leader who brings “so much more than goals”.

“I was happy with Nahki since I’ve come in and I’ve told him that,” the Luton boss said. “He brings so much more than goals. But that being said, life of a number nine, like the way they think, when he’s driving home at night, he’ll be thinking about that. So to get a couple of goals will be nice for him and hopefully he can go on a run now.”

Wells’ unselfish play also drew praise from his manager after he set up Fanne to score Luton’s other goal and came close to creating another with a flowing move that almost ended in a fourth. “He got the assist,” Wilshere said. “You can see when we nearly scored a lovely goal, when Lamine put it wide, Nahki was at the heart of that. He comes low, he spins, he joins in and he’s creative – but I’m happy he scored as well.”

Wilshere said Wells’ intelligence and link play have been vital to the way Luton are trying to build attacks since his appointment.

“You can see you need numbers in the middle of the pitch in this game, and especially in this league,” he said. “Overloading that area helps us. The more players we have closer to the ball in build-up, the better. Of course, if teams start to be aggressive and jump in certain areas, then we know we’ve got pace to hurt them behind – and Nahki’s been really, really good at that and impressed me.”

Reflecting on Wells’ evolution as a player, Wilshere said he has developed far beyond the “poacher” he remembered facing early in his career.

“I’ve seen Nahki play for years and years,” he said. “I played against him years ago when he was at Bradford and always thought of him probably as a poacher, a goalscorer, but he’s got so much more than that. He understands the game. He’s a leader. So yeah, we’re really happy with him – and ultimately what he wants to do is score goals, and he’s done that.”