Hatters boss always felt Luton would find a way to defeat Tykes

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere always felt that his side were going to be able to find a way to beat Barnsley and give themselves a chance of reaching the League One play-offs on the final day of the campaign next weekend.

Luton took on their mid-table opponents at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, having seen top six rivals Stevenage held to a draw at Doncaster Rovers and Stockport County recovering from a goal down to see off Peterborough United 3-1 at Edgeley Park before they kicked off. It meant that Town knew anything but a win would realistically see their season over, rendering the trip to Bolton Wanderers fairly meaningless, as with that in mind, they started well, leading through Nahki Wells’ 16th minute penalty.

Adam Phillips swiftly levelled as Town went into the second half all square at 1-1, a scoreline that remained the same until 11 minutes of normal time remaining. Then, Liam Walsh swung a corner in with his right boot, it was headed back across goal by Mads Andersen, where Kasey Palmer was left unmarked to notch his eighth goal since arriving in January, sidefooting into the roof of the net.

It means that Luton’s trip to the Toughsheet Stadium is now a meaningful encounter, as victory could see the Hatters make their way into the top six, as Wilshere said: “At this stage of the season it’s about winning and I had that feeling we were going to find something as I think the team’s really developed that. We want to still play well and still perform because we believe that’s the best way of winning a game and we've done that really well recently, but I didn't think we found our rhythm really.

“We threatened to at times, but couldn't quite keep our foot on the gas. I always felt that if we can suffer in those moments where they were putting us under pressure, which I thought we did really well, as the moments where they created something, we defended really well, then more importantly I always felt like the players believe that we can still find something from somewhere when you've got quality on the pitch and we certainly did that.”

Having moved ahead through Wells’ coolly taken spotkick, Wilshere wasn’t overly impressed by the manner in which they were pegged back, Bolton allowed to pick their way through Town’s midfield with Reyes Cleary drawing an excellent save from Josh Keeley, only to see Emilio Lawrence hadn’t tracked the run of Phillips who could head into the empty net.

Lawrence did try and get Luton back in front before the break, putting two shots over the top and then sending in a wonderful cross that Wells fired off target at the back post, as the boss continued: “I thought we didn’t put pressure on the ball in the first place. They played long and we didn’t quite deal with that, there’s a little bit of a mess in the box, we don’t quite solve it and he’s free at the back post to head in which is disappointing. At that point they were coming back into the game and deserved that, but disappointing from our point of view.

“Although we couldn’t quite find our rhythm with the ball and what we wanted to do, we were still creating chances and we still looked a threat. We did that a couple of times when we played out of their press and then we found Davy (van den Berg) or we found Kasey and changed the rhythm, switched it and we got Shayden (Morris) or Emilio in a one v one which we spoke about. There were a few dangerous balls into the box, we could have attacked the box a little bit better, but pleasing that when you’re not playing so well, you’re still creating those chances.”

The second half saw Barnsley start stronger, as it wasn’t until Town made a triple substitution midway through, with Jake Richard, Gideon Kodua and Devante Cole on for Morris, van den Berg and Lawrence that the hosts really started to assume control, beginning to dominate possession and territory in the closing stages.

The impact of the alterations were something that pleased Wilshere, who stated: “We spoke about starting the second half fast, we knew that they would change something as we played through them a few times which they did, and then we just couldn’t quite find our rhythm. Even if they played a little bit longer, we weren’t landing on second balls and if we did land on a second ball we’d lose the next one and that gives teams momentum.

"I thought we defended after that really well and credit to the subs, as it’s not always been that way this season where the subs have made a massive difference. There’s been times, don’t get me wrong, where they have, but there was a period where we wanted more from that, so credit to the players on the bench. They understood the task, what they needed to do, but the main thing they needed to do was bring energy and get us back on the ball, which they certainly did.”

It worked too, Luton getting the winner with 11 minutes remaining, Palmer tucking home to send Kenilworth Road into raptures, as Wilshere was delighted to see their preparation pay off, adding: “I love it when we score a set-piece as I know how much work goes into it and how much detail goes into it. There’s been a few times this season where we’ve been really, really close, there’s been a few times this season where we’ve been poor and the delivery has not been good enough, but I feel like when Walshy’s on the pitch, then from that right hand side you know the delivery will be good.

"Probably our best on the left is Sav (George Saville) and I don’t think Sav was on the pitch at that point, so we asked Kal (Naismith) to take it and Kal’s got really good delivery, he just needs to be more consistent with it. You see when we get it right and our timing and it falls in that area, the idea is to try and create some chaos. There certainly is that and I was happy as a few times this season it’s dropped into the area and no-one’s there, but this time Kasey was there to put it away.”