Hatters boss highlights Palmer's work rate in his new role for Luton

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere has talked up the performances of midfielder Kasey Palmer since moving him out to the left wing recently.

The 29-year-old completed his much hoped for permanent move to Kenilworth Road in the summer, but despite scoring twice in the opening day 4-3 triumph at Reading, going on to start the first four games of the campaign, he didn’t quite reach the heights he had while on loan, particularly when finishing the season in a prolific run of form that saw him on target an impressive eight times in 11 games.

Palmer then dropped to the bench against Leyton Orient and Stevenage, before being recalled for the 1-0 defeat for Bradford City, although still wasn’t at his best, used in several positions, including both central and slightly deeper. However, when Town came back after the international break, he was chosen in the wide left role at Wycombe Wanderers, as the XI also contained the trio of Jordan Clark, Liam Walsh and Jamie Donley.

Scoring a superb opening goal during the 4-1 triumph, the Jamaican international has gone on to start the last four games in that berth, Town picking up 12 points from a possible 15, also winning their last three matches, Palmer in excellent form during those fixtures, particularly against Leicester at the weekend.

He continued that when Luton saw off Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday evening, as after winning a penalty late in the first half when having his shirt tugged by Jamie Sterry, Palmer went on to run the show at times after the break, going close more than once to scoring himself and also threaded some terrific defence-splitting passes through to his team-mates as well.

Asked about his efforts in the new-look position, Wilshere said: “He’s doing well, he’s doing really well and I think you want to get someone with Kasey’s ability in the team. You want to get him in one v one duels, and you want to get him in areas where he can hurt the opposition. Now we know that Kasey can play inside as well and a lot of the times last year, Kasey ended up drifting to the left.

"It’s something that we like to do with our midfielders a little bit, is pull them outside to try and break the line, and Kasey probably did a lot of his best work out there. So when we were talking about it, it seemed like a really easy decision to play him out there, as then you get him high up the pitch in one v ones and you see what he can do either going on the outside like he did for the penalty the other night, or driving on the inside which he did against Wycombe and scoring.

“He’s played there before, for Coventry, and he’s not like a typical winger who’s going to stand out on the side and wait for the ball, he has a little bit more freedom to find that passing space inside. He’s an intelligent footballer who’s played at a good level consistently throughout his career, so he understands the right timings.”

Although Palmer’s impact in the final third is undeniable, it’s his efforts without the ball and defensively that has really caught Wilshere's eye in his recent run of performances, as the boss added: “The most pleasing thing for me is his out of possession work, as what I like about Kasey is he’s also doing the other side really, really well. People won’t talk about that, but he’s running back, he's helping Kal (Naismith), he’s really, really good in duels, both with the ball and without the ball.

"That’s what you have to do to play in this team and Kasey’s got loads of ability to hurt the opposition. I think the thing about Kasey is he’s really good defensively, and at times in the centre of the pitch, when he was a little bit higher, it was maybe a little bit harder for him to recover, but I think it simplifies his game out of possession, where he has to fit into a place. He knows his reference to press high if we’re going to press high, he knows what player to release to, he knows if the ball goes over, he has to get back and help, and he’s done that really well.”