Luton boss reveals he has offered his Town players a clean sheet reward

Luton boss Jack Wilshere has revealed he has offered his players a reward if they can continue with their impressive clean sheet record, even if he felt their second half strategy when beating Leyton Orient 3-0 at Kenilworth Road last night had an element of ‘risk’ to it.

The Hatters moved 3-0 in front during the first period thanks to goals from Gideon Kodua, Jordan Clark and Shayden Morris, although the O’s really should have pulled one back late on, an unmarked striker Dominic Ballard somehow diverting Sean Clare’s cross over the bar from close range. Although the visitors improved after the break, Ballard’s header disallowed for offside, apart from a few dangerous corners, they didn’t overly threaten, Teden Mengi clearing off the line once and Josh Keeley clawing away Ollie O’Neill’s late curler.

With Town getting through the contest having not been breached once more, as they did against Wycombe on Boxing Day, it takes them up to 10 clean sheets for the campaign, two more than their nearest rivals Cardiff City, who have played a game less. Having recently conceded 13 goals in six matches recently, including five at Barnsley, Wilshere stated there is now an incentive in place for his players to continue with their miserly approach, saying: “The clean sheets, when I came here I recognised that we were really good at them. We wanted to build on that and we let it slip a couple of times by giving cheap goals away and I could really feel that the players weren’t happy with that.

"That was the challenge and I won’t tell you what it is, but I’ve offered them a reward for clean sheets, so the last two, it shows, they obviously want it. We need to keep building on that as it gives you a platform to win games, to stay in games and we have a real mentality to defend our box, especially the last two games.

"I think back to the Stockport game too where Teds is cheering and celebrating tackles. We need to have that feeling and we’ve got players who can do that. Mads (Andersen) defended his box, Teds defended his box outstandingly, Josh on set-pieces, I think three or four times maybe it could have been given as a foul against him but it wasn’t, so I’m really happy with that.”

Asked if it was a specific number of shut-outs that Wilshere had targeted, he continued: “No, but I know if we get 20 clean sheets we’ll be in and around it so that’s the challenge.”

Having produced another convincing opening 45 minutes, and with a trip to Exeter on the immediate horizon, plus visiting Doncaster Rovers on Sunday, the Hatters clearly dropped back down the gears after the interval, which allowed Orient to look the more threatening. It ultimately worked, Town able to record back-to-back home wins for the first time since Wilshere took over, as on his side’s strategy, the boss said: “I’ve been there as a player when you know you've got a game again in two days.

"There is a little bit of you thinking, just try and contain this and just keep the score as it is. Sometimes that's a risk and I thought we could have been better in moments with the ball but actually defending our box, keeping a clean sheet, the desire to do that was excellent.”

What made it harder for the Hatters to gain control in the central areas of the field was mainly due to the withdrawal of Liam Walsh at the break, as the midfielder, who has started the last 10 league matches, was rested to ensure he can go again at St James Park on New Year’s Day. Replacement George Saville didn’t have quite the same impact, but Wilshere felt that was largely down to the state of the encounter, adding: “I thought it was a different game, you probably saw three, four, five players that thought, we’re just going to try and see this one out.

"I thought we had a few nice moments, Walshy helps with that, of course he does, but the context was a little bit different and we just had to see it out. Sav’s really good at that as well, he buys fouls, he organises around him. I think everyone can see what I think of Walshy and how much I enjoy him and how important he is to the team. With his history, I know he’s done it this year where he’s played three games in a row, but we want to make sure he can do it again and we keep him for the whole season.

"It was just to rest him and Sav as well, Sav’s been out of the team for a couple of games with probably not doing too much wrong and it’s difficult to change a midfield when they’re doing so well. We also really appreciate Sav and he’s been excellent since he’s been out of the team in training, in the dressing room with the players. It will give him a chance to play and keep him fresh, keep him fit as we’re going to need him as well.”