Luton boss ready for 'dangerous' Bolton side as makes his Trotters return

Luton boss Jack Wilshere is expecting to find Bolton Wanderers a ‘dangerous’ opponent this afternoon in their play-off decider at the Toughsheet Stadium.

The Trotters are the only side already secure of their place inside the top six going into the final day of the season, although despite that luxury, could end up finishing as low as fifth if they lose or draw, while Bradford City and Stockport County both win. That would see them then gift up home advantage in the second leg of the play-offs, something that manager Steven Schumacher will no doubt be determined to avoid.

Luton’s aims are simple, win and hope that another team above the dotted line lose to leapfrog them and extend their campaign, but on the challenge ahead of them, Wilshere said: “Bolton are a good team and they have been all season. They’ve been consistent, they’ve been in the play-off positions since week 15 or something, so to do that is outstanding, because in this league you need to be consistent.

"You need to cope with all the different playing styles you play against, the direct play, and then be able to develop your own playing style which I think they’ve done really well. We expect them to be strong, we expect them to be trying to build a bit of momentum going into the play-offs, and they’re dangerous. We have to be ready for that, but our focus is on trying to win the game.”

In order to achieve their goal, the Hatters will have to become only the second team to claim all three points at Bolton, with Mansfield the only side to emerge victorious so far, that happening back on December 29 via a 1-0 triumph. The Trotters have drawn three out of their last four on home soil though, but a record of 13 wins from 23 fixtures, the same as Luton at Kenilworth Road, is impressive.

Discussing that particular stat, Wilshere continued: “I was looking at it and I was looking at ours and since we’ve been in, since October, we’ve only lost twice. The first game, Mansfield, which I still say Kevin Foley took that game and the second game was Reading where arguably our best performance of the season where we then gave the game away.

"They’re a good team, we know that, when they came to Kenilworth Road they were a good team and looking at them, looking at the individuals they’ve got, they can hurt you. I thought we were really good that day and the context is they then went down to 10 men, but I thought we should have won the game from that point. I think it will be a really good game, two teams that want to play, two teams that have really good individuals and we have to be ready for that. We have to make sure we’re all committed defensively and then trust that when we get the ball we’ll be able to hurt them.”

One huge boost for the hosts is that they have been able to welcome back attacker Amario Cozier-Duberry from injury recently, as the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee starred during the first half of the campaign until a knee injury in January kept him out for almost three months, as he has eight goals and 11 assists from 33 outings so far.

Having worked with him when in charge of Arsenal’s U18s, Wilshere said: “I know him well, he’s a good player. They’ve brought (Johnny) Kenny in too (on-loan from Celtic), he’s different from when we played them last time. They’ve recruited well and they’ve developed well over the season. Jordi (Osei-Tutu) will be injured, I know Jordi as well from Arsenal, (Cyrus) Christie comes in for him, but they’re a good team with a clear way of playing and a good coach that has got them playing well so we have to be ready for that.”

Finally for Wilshere, it heralds a return to a club where he really cut his teeth as a youngster, moving to the Trotters on loan from Arsenal for the second half of the 2009-10 campaign. He made 14 appearances and scored his first Premier League goal when a Bolton player too, against boyhood club West Ham, as on his experience, he added: “I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the club, good memories, I loved my time there.

"Actually during that time, if I didn’t go back and play at Arsenal I’d have probably gone back there for a year I enjoyed it that much. It wasn’t the finishing school for me, but it was probably the period of my development where I needed that. I needed that in order to go and play with men. I played with Kevin Davis, I played with Fabrice Muamba, Gary Cahill was there at the time, men that demanded from me and I had a really good time there. A good club, loved the stadium, fans were outstanding when I was there to me so I’m looking forward to going back.”