Luton boss declares 'tough' Kenilworth Road environment made it 'difficult' for his players

Luton chief Jack Wilshere has declared that early booing the Hatters were subjected to during Saturday’s 1-1 draw against struggling Burton Albion is making it ‘difficult’ for his players to perform at their best.

After Town started by trying to spring the recalled Shayden Morris free on the right from kick-off, with a long pass forward eventually going straight out, the ball was then back among the hosts’ new-look centre half pairing of Mads Andersen and skipper Kal Naismith, who kept the ball for a few moments as they looked for the right pass out to a team-mate.

However, Luton’s supporters, who despite having seen their side go 10 unbeaten on home soil, have witnessed six straight defeats on the road, including going down 1-0 at struggling Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night, were clearly not happy with what they saw, which led to the first jeers and cries of ‘forward’ from the terraces, those coming with a mere 97 seconds on the clock.

The Hatters were at first seemingly able to block the noise out though, as from one such incisive move in the 13th minute that began from the defence, Joe Johnson collected the ball in midfield and freed Nahki Wells to race through and beat Bradley Collins to break the deadlock. Although the atmosphere remained uneasy at best for the rest of the contest, as Luton never once realistically threatened a second, it looked like Wilshere’s side were going to end a troublesome week with three points.

That was until the second minute of stoppage time at the end of the game though, as Davy van den Berg failed to clear his lines from a ball into the box, which saw Udoka Godwin-Malife able to deliver a cross to the back post where Fabio Tavares stole a march on Izzy Jones to glance his header into the net and ensure a Brewers side, who were without a win in the league on the road since early November, snatched a precious point in their battle to stay up.

The leveller led to some ugly scenes after the game, as the home players were roundly jeered, with both Kal Naismith and Wilshere himself having to be pulled back from having heated exchanges with those in the stands before they went down the tunnel. Going back to the early part of the game, asked what kind of effect the vocal frustration from those in terraces has on his players, especially from near enough the opening whistle, Wilshere said: “It definitely doesn’t help at the start.

"Listen, at the end of the game, I think everyone was frustrated that we couldn’t see it out, but it still needs to remain respectful. At the start of the game we knew it was going to be a tough afternoon and we just had to do whatever it took to get three points out of the game. In the first five, 10 minutes of the first half, I felt like okay, this is going to be a game where we can take the ball and we can dominate the ball, but once we scored we didn’t do that. We tried to protect the lead too early and maybe that is because players feel that. It wasn’t the whole crowd, it was certain bits of the crowd that they don’t want us to be that team that dominate the ball.

"We’re trying to create a style and I think we’ve been quite good at it in certain moments. I think back to the Bradford game which everyone loved, that was with the ball, that was us playing with purpose, that was us dominating the ball. We don’t want to pass it around the back just to pass it around the back, we never talk about that, I don’t want to be that coach who says that. We want to pass it to find the right solution, to find the right passing lane and then go forward.

"You can see that with the goal, that’s two passes and we cut through them, so if the spaces are there, let’s go. Sometimes you have to create a space and I think we will keep going this way. We’ll keep building and keep trying to work to this way to try and build an identity and get better at it. I know the players believe in it, it’s just in the tough environment to have that courage and that confidence to do it is difficult.”

With a desperately uneasy atmosphere around the ground for the entire game, not helped by a distinct lack of quality on display or anything remotely resembling a goalscoring opportunity, unlike during the 2-1 victory over Bradford City last time out, then on what it is like for his squad to try and shut it off and continue carrying out the kind of tactics that Wilshere is implementing, the boss continued: “It’s tough for the players. For me, I just think about the players because I’m just trying to build belief, build confidence.

"I keep saying it, I keep reiterating it and we’re not there with with it yet with the players. At the moment it seems like we lack confidence, we lack belief and we need everyone together. It definitely doesn’t help as I understand that Cardiff we didn’t show much, okay I thought they were better on the day than us, Wigan it wasn’t good enough, but I thought especially second half you saw a real vulnerability with the players and we knew that it was going to be a tough environment.

"We knew that fans were going to be frustrated today, but we were trying to give them something to cheer about. That was my message before the game, start on the front foot, be aggressive. You could see how we started the game, we gave the ball straight to Shayden as we wanted him to run at his man and try to get the fans on our side. It didn’t happen then after a minute, a minute and a half they were booing, so it’s difficult for the players.”

With Wilshere having been a player of some repute, spending over a decade at Arsenal, he did have some previous experience himself of being a player in such a tough situation, as part of the national side and also when at his boyhood club West Ham as well. Asked what he can take from that to help the players moving forward, he added: “I played at West Ham, (Manuel) Pellegrini brought me in and we lost the first four games which was tough.

"The most important thing is that we all stick tighter. I know the players are all together, I know the staff are together and I know it is our job, it is our responsibility to give the fans something to cheer about, but I ask them to please stick with us, stick with the players as it’s not through the want of trying.

"They’re giving everything for this club and I promise you that, they are. The way we train, the way we work, how much responsibility the players are asked to take and they take it on, and try to deliver it. So stick with them because we’ll do everything we can to try and get out of this division, try and win games and they are giving everything. At the minute it’s not quite enough and we have to find why that is and try to turn that around.”