Jack Wilshere has urged his Luton Town players to seize their chance of reaching a Wembley final and use the Vertu Trophy as a springboard to build a stronger winning culture at the club.
The Hatters host Northampton Town at Kenilworth Road tonight in the semi-final of the competition, with a place in next month’s showpiece up for grabs.
With Luton’s League One campaign stuttering — under a winless four games amid nine matches without victory on the road — the cup run has taken on added significance. Wilshere, who twice tasted FA Cup success as a player with Arsenal, believes chasing silverware can help create the belief, unity and standards his squad needs.
“We’ve had the same intention the whole way through,” Wilshere said, adding: “Ever since my first game in this competition, that was the ambition, that was the dream. This competition is about winning and getting through and building a culture that is about that.”
Wilshere admitted the opportunity to give supporters something to look forward to has been central to his message to the squad during a difficult period in the league.
“The players are all in. I’ve said that all along. These players really care. Players care about the fans, they care about the club and they want to win games. We haven’t done that consistently enough,” he told LTFC+ of Luton’s league form.
“To be in a competition that gives you an opportunity to play at Wembley, it gives the fans something to look forward to, to hold on to, to get behind.”
He added: “We spoke a lot about the frustrations of the fans and rightly so at times, we understand that, but we want to give them something back as well.”
Victory at Kenilworth Road would send the Hatters back to Wembley where in 2023 they won the Championship play-off final and a place in the Premier League.
“Wembley finals don’t come around too often,” Wilshere said. “For the supporters, it’s maybe 20,000, 25,000 Hatters fans there that day. So despite what the competition is, it still is a Wembley final.”
Wilshere also believes the run has the potential to strengthen the bond within a young squad still developing at senior level.
“We’ve got a group that have struggled with belief a little bit and confidence,” he admitted. “This should give players confidence and belief, but also build togetherness.
“We’ve got a group of young players, and you think Gids [Gideon Kodua], JJ [Joe Johnson], Emilio [Lawrence], like, they could easily be in a club where they’re paying in the under-21s. This is their exposure to first team football.
“From my experience, the biggest thing in the academy football is this competition, so they’ve got an opportunity to now play in the semi-final and get to Wembley, which is really good for their development, but also good for the culture here.
“Because, from my experience as well I don’t look back on my career and think about certain games, I think about the times that we [Arsenal] won the FA Cup and those memories and the brotherhood I had with those players is still there. You win things together and create something that you can hold on to forever.”
Despite the prize on offer, Wilshere expects a difficult test from Northampton, who are battling near the bottom of the table but also have the chance to reach their first Wembley final.
“They’ll have the same mentality as us,” the Hatters boss said. “They’re fighting for their lives and I know [manager] Kev Nolan. He’s a fighter. He’s not going to give up. He’ll try and do everything he can to keep them up, but also to get them into a final.”
Kenilworth Road is expected to be close to capacity tonight, with just under 10,000 tickets sold earlier this morning. That’s thanks in part to pricing being kept low at just £5 for adults and £1 for under-16s, as attendances in the competition have been lower this season, meaning just 3,418 home supporters attended for the quarter-final victory over Plymouth Argyle.
Wilshere praised the supporters who helped create the atmosphere that night and hopes for another strong turnout as Luton chase a place in the final.
“I felt the Plymouth game, the energy and the crowd,” he said. “There was maybe only 3,500 there at that point but we really felt it.
“Again, I want to thank the supporters, because I know it’s a fiver [for a ticket] but I also understand it’s not easy to find spare cash these days. So we really appreciate their support and hopefully we can give them something to look forward to in April.”
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