Luton boss hails 'model professional' after he nets Barnsley opener

Luton chief Jack Wilshere hailed Town’s ‘model professional’ in centre half Mads Andersen after the defender scored his first goal of the season against former club Barnsley on Tuesday night.

The 28-year-old has been a key member of the Hatters’ back-line this season, as having been on the bench for the trips to Reading and Mansfield earlier in the campaign, won his place back against Stockport County in September, and has remained in the side ever since, starting the last seven third tier matches.

Andersen had been on target unwittingly in the 2-1 defeat at Stevenage, deflecting Kasey Palmer’s shot into the net, although hadn’t notched on home soil for 10 months, his last goal coming in the 2-2 draw against Port Vale in December last year. However, he rectified that stat in midweek, against the side he joined Luton from in the summer of 2023, serving the Tykes for four years, making over 170 outings in that time.

Picked out by Jamie Donley’s excellent free kick from the left after just two minutes, Andersen ensured he rose highest to meet it with a firm downward header, giving debutant Cieran Slicker no chance and ensuring Luton made the perfect start in their efforts to get the disappointing 2-1 defeat at MK Dons out of their system at the first opportunity.

Striker Nahki Wells doubled Luton’s lead before the break, but after Makenzie Kirk pulled one back on 58 minutes, Andersen came to the fore defensively, often taking responsibility to head clear when the Tykes went long, as he also stepped in when the visitors tried to play their way through the Hatters’ back-line as well.

The ex-Brondby youngster was good in possession as well, producing one lovely piece of skill that saw him play his way out of trouble in the second period, as he ended up with 11 defensive contributions, winning all but one of his seven aerial battles, the same on the floor too, successful in four from five duels there.

Speaking about the Dane, who is now well and truly over the injury worries that restricted him to just 19 outings in his first two years in Bedfordshire, Wilshere, clearly a fan of what he brings to the side, said: “Ever since I came here, the first game we played him and then the second game, I took him out of the team for Northampton away and we won, but then probably ever since then, the only time he’s not been in the team is if he’s not been fit, and there’s a reason for that.

"In this league there’s so many aerial duels. He leads the line, someone who’s probably not the loudest, which having Kal (Naismith) next to him in the back-line really helps because he’s a communicator, but Mads leads by example. He leads the line, he sets the line a lot of the time, he squeezes the line and he’s aggressive in duels.

“In my opinion he’s improved on the ball, he’s got the ability to play a little bit longer as well, so I’m happy for Mads, he works really hard. Since I came here, there was a question mark around his robustness, but he’s been outstanding with that. He’s improving that all the time, he’s looking after himself, he’s a model professional and I’m really happy for him.”

Although clearly pleased to have helped the Hatters pick up such an important three points, Andersen himself admitted he would have swapped his first goal of the campaign for what would have only been a second clean sheet in the league, adding: “I'm very proud of that victory, very proud of the team. I thought it was a great performance from everybody, working hard, competing for every ball, it was a very, very good performance.

"I feel like the front-line should get a lot of credit, they worked very, very hard stopping them from kicking the ball long. They were on top of all the duels it felt like, and that helps us so much, so I thought they did very well. I think it was my first touch actually that gave us a very good start but there’s 90 minutes left, so you have to score some more goals. It’s always nice to contribute, I would rather have a clean sheet though.”