Clark's efforts highlighted by Hatters chief as midfielder stands out in Mansfield shambles

The performance from long-serving midfielder Jordan Clark was highlighted by Town chief Jack Wilshere as one of the main bright points from the disappointing 2-0 loss in his first game in charge against Mansfield Town on Saturday.

After a first half in which the Hatters were fortunate not to be breached early on, it was Clark who dragged them into some kind of ascendancy, finding some pockets of space inside the Stags area to see one shot deflected behind for a corner and then another quite brilliantly tipped on to the post by visiting keeper Liam Roberts. With 33 minutes gone, Clark then went it alone, burrowing his way into the box once more only to be tripped by defender Kyle Knoyle for a penalty, which Nahki Wells couldn’t convert, Roberts winning the battle of wits from 12 yards.

Mansfield quickly went up the other end to take the lead themselves, while they doubled their advantage on the hour mark, Tyler Roberts finding the net with his penalty as a bereft of confidence Luton didn’t ever show any signs of being able to get back into the contest, delivering a shocking final half an hour. The one player who can be absolved of any criticism though was Clark, as the 32-year-old was the only Hatter who was actually looking to get on the ball and make things happen, earning himself an appreciative ovation when the man of the match award was announced to an increasingly despondent home crowd in the closing stages.

Asked about his efforts, Wilshere said: “Jordan’s been excellent and when I was watching before I came here I was thinking, ‘what a player.’ I came back in 2021, trained with him, saw his quality and we need players like that, not only with his quality, but also when young players are lacking confidence. I think about my time as a player when I came into the team, you look at the older guys, and some lead with their words, some lead with their behaviours, but he leads by example all the time. What he does, how he speaks to the players is very calm, so we’re definitely going to need him, players like that, especially him.”

Having spent five years at Kenilworth Road now and part of the Town team who reached the Premier League, only to tumble back down the football pyramid since, then the experience that Clark, who has made 191 appearances in that time, possesses, will be vital in helping Luton get out of the rut they find themselves in according to Wilshere.

Saturday’s loss means the Hatters have now suffered three successive defeats in all competitions, while it was an embarrassing fifth reverse from seven fixtures, which led the new boss, who has his first away game in charge this weekend at Northampton Town, to add: “That’s when the senior players really can help and we have to remember that also the senior players have their own confidence, their own belief to manage, so we have to make sure that’s right.

"You saw with Jordan Clark, I thought he was excellent. I thought he tried, he tried to bring everyone with him, he was holding people accountable and that’s everything we need. There’s nothing more powerful in my opinion than a player speaking in the dressing room from the heart, so there’s things we need to do, but we’re all confident that we can do that.”