Hatters chief thrilled to hear Kenilworth Road is almost a sell-out for Cobblers semi-final

Luton boss Jack Wilshere was thrilled to hear that Kenilworth Road is closing in on a sell-out for this evening’s Vertu Trophy semi-final against Northampton Town.

The Hatters take on their struggling League One rivals with a place at Wembley at stake for the duo, promotion-chasers Stockport County awaiting the winners next month, having beaten Doncaster Rovers 1-0 last night. With prices remaining as low as they have been in previous rounds, adults charged just £5 with kids £1, then the club confirmed this morning that almost 10,000 will be in attendance to try and roar their side to the home of football.

Speaking about the support his side will receive, Wilshere said: “Football for a fiver, you can’t beat it. I felt the Plymouth game, the energy in the crowd, there was only 3,500 there at that point, but we really felt it and again I want to thank the supporters as I know it’s a fiver but I also understand that it’s not easy to find spare cash around the place these days. So I really appreciate their support and hopefully we can give them something to look forward to in April."

Being on home soil for the third time running in the knock-out stages of the competition is also crucial for the Hatters as they haven’t lost at Kenilworth Road in the league since Wilshere’s first game in charge against Mansfield, a run now spanning 11 matches. On the road it has been a much different story, Town unable to secure a victory for well over three months now, so asked about the significance of the tie taking place in Bedfordshire, Wilshere continued: “It’s important right now, of course.

"The Burton game (1-1 draw), we were frustrated as we wanted three points, but we’ve now been on a good run at home and when I first came here, it was about trying to build that connection, that form and that energy at home, which I feel like we have. I always think we’re in a game at home, whether that’s against someone at the top of the league, Lincoln for example, in my opinion we should have won that game as we scored a set-piece (disallowed by referee Scott Oldham).

"We have to hold on to what we’ve created at home. Kenilworth Road is special, it is, it’s an old stadium, there’s a history there, there’s a feeling in there that it should be tough to come and play here. We want to keep that, we want to build on that even more, but it’s important at the moment that we are at home and we need to use that as a strength as we have been good there.”

Opponents Northampton have very different goals this term, as the Cobblers are fighting against relegation, sitting second bottom in the table and two points adrift of safety. Asked what he is expecting from a visiting side that Town beat 1-0 back in October, and are managed by ex-Newcastle and Bolton midfielder Kevin Nolan, who was Wilshere’s former coach at West Ham, he added: “I think they’ll have the same mentality as us, to try and galvanise, give them that little bit of energy, that extra push before the end of the season because they’re fighting for their lives.

"I know Kev Nolan from playing against him and my time at West Ham. I know him as a character, he’s a fighter, he’s not going to give up. He will try and do everything he can to keep them up, but also to get them into a final. We played against them this season and they’ve got (Jack) Vale, they’ve got the right winger (Sam Hoskins) who’s been there for years, he played really against us this season.

"I know he’s changed the team a lot for this competition, so it will be interesting to see what they do, but a lot of the players that they have brought in, (Elliot) List upfront, they’re all kind of similar profiles. So we have an understanding of what we’re going into, what we’re going to face. We also played them earlier on in the season so we have to be ready for that, be ready to deal with direct play, land on second balls, they’re a set-piece threat.

"I’ll say it to the players again, we have to make sure that we don’t just match that, we go beyond that, we kill their spirit, we kill any threat that they have. As then I’d back us to get the ball down and start playing, open them up, but we have to make that we do everything else to earn the ball and earn the right to do that.

"It’s a big game for them, but also a really big game for us to try and give us a little bit more energy and galvanise us a little bit more as I’ve spoken about the unity in this place and the togetherness that we have and how important it is that we stick together. This just naturally brings everyone closer together, so we understand the importance of the game and we’ll be right up for that.”