Hatters boss insists January signing just needs a goal to get going

Luton striker Devante Cole just needs a goal to kickstart his time at Kenilworth Road according to boss Jack Wilshere, who thought the forward had his best game for the club so far during Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory over Exeter City.

The 30-year-old was making his fifth start and ninth appearance in total for the Hatters after arriving in the January transfer window from Port Vale, where he had netted eight times in 23 outings for a Valiants team who were struggling at the bottom of the table. Hoping to spearhead a Luton attack that had seen Lasse Nordas, Jerry Yates, Jacob Brown and Joe Gbode all loaned out in the window, Cole has struggled to really get going, failing to test an opposition goalkeeper during his six-week stint in Bedfordshire, until handed a chance by a poor backpass against the Grecians.

Although he was unable to beat the visitors’ former Premier League stopper Joe Whitworth, who played twice in the top flight for Crystal Palace, he did at least test the keeper for the first time, his left-footed attempt comfortably saved. Despite not scoring, Cole was far more involved than he had been in other matches, helping Town win a first half penalty for a dubious handball and almost gaining an assist after the break as well, his reverse pass gathered by Kasey Palmer who was tackled just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Discussing his efforts and lack of a goal so far, Wilshere is confident that having a run in the side will definitely help him in his quest to get off hte mark, saying: “He looked probably the most dangerous he has done and had the most touches in dangerous places, which we want from him. He has to understand the players around him, which we talk about a settled team, and that will help.

"He can get a run in the team, that will help him, playing with the players as we have a lot of creative players. I think about Tuesday, there was a little bit of off the cuff from Kasey and maybe if Devante had recognised it a little bit earlier he could have got in. So I think there’s a bit of that, time will help that of course, training will help that. The more time we get to train where we can look at things and the international break will be a good moment for that.

"As well though, sometimes when you’re a nine and you watch what Nahki (Wells) does, Nahki’s a very different nine to Devante and I like it as we want different nines in the building to give us a different threat. Sometimes Nahki drops in to link up, so we have to change a little bit when Devante is in, which is fine, because we need variation, we need to keep defences guessing what we’re going to do.

"We’ve spoken to Devante about staying more central, staying on the last line, being ready to get in behind, not worrying too much about coming to join in. I think it helped him and there’s more to come. I think about his shot, he probably could have gone the other way, but he was confident enough to go on his left foot and take his opportunity. Like any nine really, I think he needs a goal, he needs a goal. He needs that opportunity to fall to him. His finishing has been really good in training, so when that opportunity does come to him, I expect him to finish it.”