Hatters chief labels Town defender as 'outstanding' in semi-final success
Andersen stands firm in Luton’s back-line
Luton defender Mads Andersen was labelled as ‘outstanding’ by Town boss Jack Wilshere after his superb efforts in securing Town a place at Wembley for the first time since May 2023, when they booked their place in the Vertu Trophy final by beating Northampton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday evening.
The 28-year-old was back in the side having missed out on a League One match-day squad for the first time since August 30, when sitting out the 1-1 draw at Port Vale on Saturday, having gone off at half time in the quarter-final win over Plymouth Argyle last Tuesday, taking a whack to his foot in the closing stages of the first period which sidelined him for the trip to Stoke on Trent.
Back in the starting line-up, the Danish centre half, who was making his 34th appearance of the campaign, the most in his three seasons at Kenilworth Road, having managed just nine and 10 outings during his first two campaigns in Bedfordshire after signing in the summer of 2023, struggling massively with several recurring injuries. In midweek, Andersen started promisingly, as when the Cobblers went long, he was not only able to win the ball, but also cushion it to a team-mate to ensure Luton didn’t have a fight on their hands for a second ball.
Although the Cobbers moved 1-0 in front on 17 minutes, Town hit back to level early on after the interval through Nahki Wells, and were then able to lead 2-1 when Liam Walsh fired home with eight minutes to go. With Northampton putting ball after ball forward following that in an attempt to take the tie to penalties, it was the former Barnsley defender who took charge of Luton’s rearguard efforts, going up against the visiting forwards each and every time, winning header after header.
It saw Andersen finish with brilliant personal stats, the most defensive contributions for the Hatters, making 11 clearances, 10 of them with his head, barely losing a single duel all evening, as he was also excellent on the ball too, also maintaining a passing success rate of just under 90 percent during the 90 minutes. Asked about the centre half’s efforts, Wilshere said: “Mads was outstanding, Mads was outstanding and he has been outstanding.
"I can’t speak highly enough of him in so many moments because, before we came here, there were doubts about whether he could play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. Credit to him because ultimately it’s down to the player, but credit to the medical team and the performance team for finding a rhythm that suits him as the most important thing for us is that we have Mads on the pitch,
"Especially against teams that play direct which is a lot in this league, as he’s exceptional. He wins so many aerial duels, he gives belief to the players around him, he doesn’t only just win the aerial duel, he actually wins it and heads it to one of his team-mates, which makes a big difference in this league. So I’m really, really happy with Mads and how he’s going and how he’s improving, his fitness and he’s becoming robust. We need to keep working with him as we need him on the pitch, keep looking after him, but I’m happy with him tonight.”
Despite Andersen’s wonderful individual display, Wilshere was left annoyed with how Town had been breached as despite the Cobblers barely threatening at all in the first period, they took the lead when Kal Naismith conceded a soft free kick which was launched in the box, as the skipper lost McAdam to head home unmarked.
However, the hosts didn’t once let their shoulders droop after the early setback, which saw something Wilshere was impressed about, particularly given their struggles in the league of late, adding: “They had two touches in our box in the first half, which is outstanding in a way, but also disappointing when you concede, so credit to the players. I feel like, I’ve sat here a lot and spoken about belief, I thought the players showed a lot of belief tonight, a lot of confidence, a lot of courage to take the ball and try and attack.
"In the first half we played through them really well a lot and didn’t have that threat behind, which I feel that one or two times we missed in the first half. Then you seen in the second half, the first goal was a really well worked goal when we played through them, but the second goal, Haks (Hakeem Odoffin) putting the ball behind them and asking them to defend, which we have to do more because we’ve got players who can chase that down. Then you get a corner and we’re good at attacking set-pieces, so a lot variation in our attack which I’m happy about.”