Cup clash is no 'dress rehearsal' as Hatters chief wants Town to get 'serious'

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere insisted he isn’t using today’s Carabao Cup first round trip to Gillingham as a ‘dress rehearsal’ in any way, shape or form as he looks to get ‘serious’ about the season ahead.

With the season beginning this weekend for Town in the cup, rather than a traditional league fixture, that not starting until next weekend when Luton head to Reading in their opening League One encounter, some managers have revealed they are using today’s matches as their final friendly encounter, preferring to use it as chance to have a final look at their squad, rather than put full focus on being in the draw for the second round.

That’s not something that Wilshere is intending to do, as he said: “No, it’s not a dress rehearsal, it’s the real thing. I think we’ve had five dress rehearsals now in pre-season and this is the first game, the one we want to be competitive in, and it starts for all the players. They have an opportunity in the team I pick to keep their place and the players that come on and are not starting the game, they have an opportunity to show in training next week, but also if they get on the pitch.

“Of course, the opposition is from a league below, that’s probably the biggest difference, but it’s a competitive game. We prepare in exactly the same way as we would for a normal game, and we want to be competitive in this competition. We’re feeling good, this is the game we looked at when we started in pre-season, as the one we want to be flying for and the boys have done well, they’ve delivered everything we’ve asked of them in pre-season.

"I feel like we’ve had different tests and I think it’s always hard in pre-season to get the right challenge at the right time, but I think we did well with that and let's see where we’re at with that. It’s serious, it starts, it’s a cup game, we want to be competitive in that cup, and it’s another step towards the start of the season. The feel of the game will be different as well, because the substitutes come into it and it’s not roll on roll off like a normal friendly, so we’ll be looking to be competitive in that.”

Wilshere couldn’t be happier with the way that his first pre-season at Kenilworth Road has gone too, making several changes at the Brache to make sure the environment is now exactly how he wants is, also adding four new signings in George Johnston, Kasey Palmer, Harrison Ashby and Callum Marshall, while also starting to trim the numbers, Milli Alli and Christ Makosso two of the big name departures so far.

On the preparation, he continued: “I’ve really enjoyed it. One thing that I realised in the off season, and to be fair all the coaches, we’ve had these conversations, how much we all missed it. It was good, time where we could spend planning, getting things ready, trying to improve things, trying to improve the squad, trying to improve the environment, but mostly making sure we were in a position where we had planned everything and pre-season goes as smoothly as it can.

"I think that’s really important to do that as pre-season can be tough at times and players are playing 45 minutes here and 45 minutes there, but if you get the right planning, it makes it more enjoyable from a coach's point of view.”

Luton will lock horns with a manager they came up against numerous times when climbing up the football echelons, Gareth Ainsworth, as the former Wycombe Wanderers chief has been in charge at the Priestfield Stadium since March 2025, finishing 17th in the fourth tier last term. Speaking about someone who has been in management for well over a decade, with time in charge of QPR and Shrewsbury Town too, Wilshere stated: “He’s someone that when I was at Bournemouth a few years ago, I played against his Wycombe team.

"I’ve got massive respect for him and how many games he’s done. He was someone who was on my Pro Licence as well and someone that I had a good relationship with as he helped me a lot in the times when we were away. We know what Gareth Ainsworth’s about, we know the passion and the love he has for the game, and his sides definitely show that. So we know what we’ve got to do, we know we’ve got to compete, match their energy, but massive respect for him.”

Ainsworth was also just as complimentary about Wilshere, as speaking to the Gills official website, he added: “There’s Championship potential for them next year. They are really going to go for it. I know Jack Wilshere really well. We did our pro license together, so we have been in contact when he was at Norwich.

“It was great for him to get the Luton job and win the EFL Trophy in their first season. That's no mean feat for a young manager to come in and do that. We haven't met on the touchline yet, but I have huge respect for him and his career and what he does, but more as a person - a great guy. Hopefully, he will realise that my teams don't just sit down and let the higher league team win. We're going to be up for this.”