Hatters boss pleased with recalled midfielder's contribution to Wycombe win

Town chief Jack Wilshere was quick to praise the efforts of midfielder George Saville in helping the Hatters end their long, long wait for an away win when beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday.

The 32-year-old had been a main player for the Hatters during the early stages of the campaign under previous manager Matt Bloomfield and then when Wilshere took over, but following a 2-2 draw at home to Port Vale in mid-December, only started once in the last 12 league matches until being recalled for the 1-1 home draw against Burton Albion.

After that contest which saw the Brewers equalise in stoppage time, Saville has now gone on to start four of the last five games, scoring in the 3-2 defeat against Reading when he headed Jordan Clark’s corner into the net, but after being on the bench for the 1-1 draw at Doncaster Rovers in midweek, was then back in from the start once more at Adams Park on the weekend.

Playing in the deep-lying role along with Liam Walsh, a partnership that has drawn criticism from a large number of supporters in the past, this time it had on-loan Hull City midfielder Kasey Palmer ahead of it, which gave the centre of Town’s pitch a real attacking thrust, with Saville’s set-piece threat vital too, bagging an assist for Luton's vital second goal, swinging in a terrific corner that saw Palmer head into the top corner from the near post and put the visitors 2-0 in front.

Looking at his individual performance, the Northern Ireland international was fourth for the number of defensive contributions, only behind the Hatters’ outstanding back three, also with a passing success rate of just under 75 percent, winning more than half of his ground and aerial duels, delivering a number of accurate crosses, making seven recoveries as well.

He also had a crack at goal in the closing stages that was blocked away, as asked about the reasoning on bringing him into the side, Wilshere said: “We felt at times that especially away we’ve vacated the middle of the pitch too easily. We’ve allowed teams to build momentum, build a little bit of pressure on us and that was in my thinking as well, who can we have in the team, who can we have under the ball, to stop transitions, to help us sustain attacks? George is really good at that and he’s good on the ball, he’s a good footballer technically. He makes good decisions, so I’m happy with him today.”