Hatters boss makes it clear that teenager is part of his first team squad

Luton boss Jack Wilshere insists that he regards academy graduate Zach Ioannides as a fully-fledged member of his first team squad after the youngster made his full debut for the Hatters during Tuesday night’s Jersey Mike’s Trophy victory over Ipswich Town U21s at Kenilworth Road.

The 19-year-old has been with the club since the age of 11, viewed as a box-to-box midfielder initially, although is also capable of playing as a right back, which is what he did against the young Tractor Boys in midweek. Having been a regular in the U18s and U21s, also named Scholar of the Year at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, Ioannides made his senior debut last season when coming off the bench in the EFL Trophy victory over Exeter City in December 2025, also then going out on to Basingstoke Town to gain further valuable experience of men’s football.

Capped three times by the Cyprus U21s since then, making his international debut against Spain earlier this year, Ioannides’ potential was rewarded when he had an option on his contract taken up by the club over the summer, as he got his first opportunity from the start when named as part of Town’s back four.

Despite an early incident in which Luca Fletcher sped away from him, James Shea out to make an important save with his legs, Ioannides had a solid first start, his confidence growing particularly in the second period, getting stuck into his task in front of just over 2,000 supporters, who enthusiastically cheered his every tackle until taken off with 67 minutes gone.

Asked about his contribution afterwards, Wilshere said: “I'm really pleased as Zach was someone who was with us for pre-season and I wouldn’t say he surprised us, but he probably did a little bit in terms of how he coped with everything physically and then how much quality he had with the ball. There’s always that, not doubt, but question mark whether they can step up and they can handle going to Spain with the first team, doing resilience day, completing all the running.

"He was in a really good spot and then unfortunately he picked up an ankle injury at the end of pre-season which set him back a bit. I want to make it clear that Zach is one of us, I see Zach as a member of the first team. He’s done really well with us, he’s got international duty now, he’s going away, but we wanted to give him this experience of playing a game with the first team because he’s earned that. It’s probably been a little bit longer coming because of the injury, but Zach’s a really good player and gives us something different at right back.”