Jack Wilshere believes Luton Town have a score to settle when they return to Reading for this afternoon’s League One opener.
The Hatters suffered two painful 3-2 defeats against the Royals last season, despite producing what their manager considers two of their better performances.
Luton looked to have rescued a point from the first meeting in Berkshire after recovering from 2-0 down through Jordan Clark and Nigel Lonwijk, only to concede almost immediately as Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan struck a late winner.
The reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road in March was even more painful. Town led 2-1 with nine minutes remaining, with Lonwijk and George Saville on target, before defensive mistakes allowed Ehibhatiomhan to score twice in three late minutes to complete his hat-trick for Reading to win again by the same score.
That defeat proved to be the last time Luton lost a competitive fixture, with Wilshere’s side subsequently going unbeaten in their final 11 matches of the campaign, or 12 if the Vertu Trophy final triumph is included.
And with many of the players involved in those two games still at the club, Wilshere admits the memory of those results could provide extra motivation at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
“I know these players and I know how they think,” he said. “As much as it’s a new season and I feel like we’re a completely different team, there is still that feeling that we gave them six points, in my opinion, last year.
“When you’re a player, you’re preparing for a game, thinking about how the game is going to be, the first thing you think of is the last game so that will be there and it’s down to us to make that right.”
Wilshere believes there were valuable lessons to take from both defeats, particularly because he felt Luton had played well in each game.
“We had two disappointing results against them last year, however, probably two of our best performances,” he said.
“Away from home I thought we were outstanding, we gave away goals and the same at home. I think there’s clear lessons there, but also a big lesson to the players was, since that Reading game, we’re undefeated in the league.
“I spoke to the players and that’s down to them, that’s down to the drive and the unity that they’ve shown from that point.
“We were building, building, building and we kept talking about belief and confidence and ever since that moment I felt like we took massive steps.”
Luton’s most recent win against Reading came in May 2022, when Harry Cornick’s cheeky goal – where he waited behind Reading goalkeeper Orjan Nyland for him to roll the ball and then stole it to score – secured a 1-0 victory as Town, completing a league double over the Royals and, more importantly, a Championship play-off place.
But Wilshere insists that history versus Reading, for him, counts for just two games that didn’t go his way.
He said. “How I see it is me and this team is zero wins out of two against them, so yes, we have to put that right.
“I feel like we’ve improved as a team, I feel like we’re a different team, I feel like the mentality is different and we need to keep that purpose, energy and commitment, try and impose the game that we want, while also understanding the level and requirements of League One.
“So there’s a lot of difference since then, it’s a new season, it’ll be a game where both teams will probably have a little bit of nerves because of that, but it’s down to us to find our rhythm early, down to us to try and take the game away from them in front of their fans.
“Their fans will be of course looking forward to the start of the season, we’re taking 2,500 fans, it’s down to us to give them something to cheer about but we’ll be ready for that.”
Luton head into the contest with confidence boosted by their strong finish to last season and Saturday’s 3-0 Carabao Cup victory at Gillingham.
They have also strengthened their squad over the summer, while new striker Callum Marshall could be available after recovering from an ankle problem. The Northern Ireland international trained towards the end of the week after missing the win at Gillingham.
“He trained towards the end of the week, so we’ll have to see how he is,” Wilshere said. “He had a kick on his ankle which was frustrating for him, but he’s fine.”
The main striker from last season, Nahki Wells got off to a scoring start in last weekend’s Carabao Cup victory, but whoever leads the line, Wilshere wants Luton to carry the mentality which powered their late-season revival into the new campaign.
“We have to, we have to keep that momentum,” he said. “We were building it, but it came together at the end of the season. In terms of the energy we had, the purpose we had when we’re going into games, when we were attacking, the purpose we had and most importantly, the togetherness and the unity that the players showed, that wasn’t always easy at times.
“But you have to go through those tough moments to be successful in my opinion and that’s my message to the players, to the staff, to everyone, let’s keep that going, let’s keep that feeling going.
“We’ve worked on a few things this season that we feel can help us and give us a better chance to be successful, but most important is energy, is commitment and is unity.”
Emilio Lawrence is available for selection after his return to Luton on a season-long loan from Manchester City was confirmed yesterday, while midfielder Jayden Luker has been ruled out with the hamstring injury that saw him limp out of his professional debut against Gillingham last week.
There are some familiar faces waiting for Luton in Berkshire, with former Town strikers Jacob Brown and Jack Marriott potentially lining up against their old club.
Marriott scored against Luton in the first clash between the two teams last term. But fresher in the memory of this current squad will be Brown who was released by the Kenilworth Road this summer after a difficult injury-hit spell with the Hatters. The Scotland international made only eight appearances for Luton under Wilshere last season after finally returning from the sidelines, before spending the second half of the campaign on loan at Portsmouth.
Asked if Brown will have an extra point to prove against his former employers, Wilshere said: “I think he will. I know Jacob, Jacob is a top guy. We had conversations in the January window when he left.
“He was frustrated here, so I think that naturally, as a player, when you leave somewhere and it probably didn’t quite work out the way he saw it, you want to show them.
“He’ll think we were wrong for letting them go, so he’ll want to show that and it’s down to us to manage them.”
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