Wycombe 1 Luton 2: ‘That one is for them,’ says Wilshere to fans as Town finally end away drought

Jack Wilshere
Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere dedicated Luton’s long-awaited first away victory in four months to the club’s travelling supporters after the Hatters beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 at Adams Park to end a 10-game winless run on the road.

The Hatters have only scored more than one goal once in that run, but headers from captain Kal Naismith and Kasey Palmer — both from corners — gave Luton a two-goal half-time lead before Wycombe pulled one back deep into stoppage time through Armando Junior Quitirna.

The result moved the Hatters to within four points of the League One play-off places with nine games remaining, and there was more good news as striker Elijah Adebayo came off the bench in the latter stages to make his first appearance since suffering a serious injury in May 2025.

For Wilshere, the victory was especially satisfying given the loyalty of supporters who have continued to travel despite Luton’s struggles away from Kenilworth Road.

“Credit to them,” he told the BBC, adding: “I heard yesterday how many were coming and it’s really it’s unbelievable with how we’ve been away from home. That’s true supporters. That’s true love for for the club that they stick with us and that’s for them.

“That’s for them because they have they followed us to Wigan, to Doncaster, to Cardiff, and we fell short a lot of times, but that one is for them and we need to build on it now.”

Town had taken the lead in each of their last two away games but failed to hold it, with second half displays often falling short — but not at Adams Park, a ground where Luton have never lost, and they saw out the game well after the interval.

Wilshere described the performance as Luton’s most “mature” display away from home for some time, praising his players’ defensive discipline and ability to manage the game.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “We’ve probably actually played better at times away from home, but probably our most, what’s the word I’m looking for? Mature performance.

“Two set play goals. We were good in the first half. Probably could have created a little bit more when we got into the final third, we made the wrong decision sometimes, but set pieces, we’ve spoken about so much this season. We need them, we work on them a lot, and they executed it today.”

He added: “When you have a real threat at set pieces, you’re in every game because, at any moment you can score when you get a corner. So yeah, really happy with that.”

There was also a special moment late on when striker Elijah Adebayo made his first appearance of the season after an 11-month absence following knee surgery, with the travelling support roaring their approval as he came off the bench in the 89th minute.

“He’s deserved that,” Wilshere said. “We didn’t we didn’t put him on because they [fans] were they were cheering his name. Of course, we know how much he means, and we know the lift he gives to everyone just being in the squad.

“But recently, at times, when when we’ve been holding on a little bit, we maybe made a defensive change, which then sometimes invites a little bit more pressure. So we wanted to be a little bit braver.”

With Luton now four points outside the play-off places, Wilshere insisted his side must not get distracted by other or by looking too far ahead in the table.

“We just have to focus on ourselves,” he said. “I think you can see that this league is pretty crazy. And results would go either way, especially at this point of the season when there’s a bit of pressure and it’s probably two places up for grabs.

“At the minute, Stevenage are the ones looking like they’re the most positive, but anything can happen. We just need to focus on ourselves.”

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