Luton chief to look at why Town are struggling with their second half starts

Luton boss Jack Wilshere admits he and his coaching staff will have to take a look at the way the Hatters are beginning the second half of games after being disappointed yet again with the way they started proceedings in their 2-1 win against Bradford City at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

The hosts had gone into the interval well and truly on the front foot as after both sides went close in the early stages of the contest, it was Town who upped the ante, Jordan Clark curling against the bar after an incisive team move, before Joe Johnson and Gideon Kodua combined slickly for Jake Richards to rifle into the bottom corner from 20 yards on 39 minutes and break the deadlock.

Luton almost scored again, Clark nicking the ball away from an unsuspecting defender to see his attempt deflect over the top, while Teden Mengi dragged wide after being teed up by Mads Andersen from the resulting corner. The hope was that Town would continue turning the screw in the second period, but as has become a concerning theme since Wilshere took over in, they couldn’t maintain that earlier dominance, the Bantams seeing Kayden Jackson left unmarked at the back post inside 60 seconds, only to rather fortunately connect with fresh air from a dangerous cross.

With City enjoying the better of things, Town did manage to go and double their lead courtesy of a quickfire counter-attack, pinching the ball back in midfield though Richards and Clark sliding Shayden Morris away to do rest. From then, it was they who were the team pressing for a third, with a whole host of opportunities to add to their tally, finding visiting keeper Sam Walker in excellent form, as he made important stops from Kodua, Izzy Jones, Clark and Kasey Palmer too.

Although it was Luton who claimed all three points, going back to yet another slow opening to the second 45, Wilshere said: “We’re looking at that. I thought last week (against Blackpool) was a good example of starting the second half in the right way and this week we’re going to have to look at it again. There’s always going to be a change in what a team does, so we have to be ready for that.

"We might just have to accept that we’re going to suffer for the first five minutes. Especially when you’re leading and you’re protecting a lead, that they’re going to come out fired up, they’re going to try and level the game as quickly as they can to make it into a more even game for the second half. That being said, we didn’t start well with the ball, but without the ball we defended really well and then we managed to hit them on the counter-attack which we spoke about as well.

"We know that their wingbacks get high when they’re in possession and they try and attack with a lot of numbers on the last line which means that if we win the ball back, can we be clean, manage that moment, manage that regain and then try and attack in the wide areas. Shayden’s the perfect player for that with his pace and it was a good finish from him as well. I thought he was going to shoot with his right but he cut back and a good decision.”

Another minor quibble that Wilshere had with his players was that after appearing to have done the hard work, Keeley saving well when Ethan Wheatley went clean through and then making an even better stop from Stephen Humphrys late on, they got through to the sixth minute of seven added on with a two-goal lead only to then concede in disappointing fashion.

A ball over the top saw the otherwise excellent Johnson outmuscled by Humphrys to reach Antoni Sarcevic’s pass and was able to squeeze his shot beyond the advancing Keeley. It meant that from a position of apparent comfort, Luton had an unnecessarily nervy last 60 seconds as the Bantams won a corner which the gigantic Walker came up for, ultimately dropping to Jenson Metcalfe, who as he had done all game, thankfully lashed into the stands.

Although it didn’t matter, on being breached in such a tame manner, Wilshere added: “We didn’t need that and I said that to the players, we need to manage that moment better. It was the one time we didn’t manage it and it’s probably a good lesson for the players as I keep talking about moments and the important things in this league of duels, second balls, making sure that we’re already ready, especially if we play out.

"I think it came from a long goal kick and then they put it back behind you, so you have to be ready for that. It’s a tough one as we didn’t need that moment, but the performance was so good, so we have to highlight the performance and how good we were, but also get better at managing the game.”