Luton chief will weigh up whether to risk top scorer against Bolton
Clark has only recently returned to training following calf issue
Luton boss Jack Wilshere will weigh up the risk of recalling midfielder Jordan Clark to the squad for tomorrow’s must-win clash at Bolton Wanderers.
The Hatters head to the Toughsheet Stadium knowing that a win could see them reach the play-offs and extend their season as long as results elsewhere go their way, and either one of Bradford City, Stockport County or Stevenage lose, with a draw for Boro at home to Wigan Athletic enough as well.
Clark, who has been a key reason as to why Town are in with a shout on the final day of the campaign, leading the scoring charts with 12 goals this season, has been out since the 2-1 win over Northampton Town due to a minor calf issue, missed the wins over Rotherham and Barnsley, plus the 1-1 draw against Mansfield.
The popular 32-year-old, who scooped four awards at the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust awards evening on Tuesday, declared he was desperate to feature in the game, admitting he was keeping everything crossed that was a possibility. Asked this afternoon whether that might happen, Wilshere said: “Jordan trained with the fitness staff yesterday and today, so let’s see with Jordan.
"Jordan wants to play, of course he does because he’s another player who leads by example, coming up with big goals, so we’ll assess him. We’ll weigh up the risk as our plan is to win this game to try and give ourselves the opportunity to play more games and we definitely want him for them as well.”
With no other injury worries to concern themselves about, then having had a week to prepare after an exhausting schedule of seven games in 23 days has been a blessing for Wilshere. He continued: “I’m feeling really good, really good. The group is feeling good, sun’s been out all week, we’ve had a really good week of training and, as always, focused on us, what we need to do to try and win a game against a good team, but we’re in a good place, we’re confident.
"We’ve loved it (having a week to train), genuinely loved it. We got the balance right I feel, however I’ve said this before, you never know that until three o’clock tomorrow when the players go on to the pitch as that’s what our focus has been on, trying to prepare the players best for when Saturday three o’clock comes. The sun’s out, it's been a good week of weather and there’s no better place to be in the world than Luton when the sun’s out.”
Whoever gets the nod for Luton on the day, they won’t be sent out with any different instructions despite knowing a win is realistically the only result that will propel Town above the dotted line. That may change as the clock begins to tick down, as knowing what outcome is essential, Wilshere said: “It won’t change our approach. Listen, there might be some in-game decisions we make once we know different situations or what we need to do, but we prepare every single game to try and win the game.
"Of course sometimes you execute it, sometimes you don’t and then within the game you have to make decisions, are you going to change tactically or is it something you can tweak and is it an individual thing that will give us a boost? So we won’t change how we prepare, we always prepare to try and win the game, but there could be some decisions in-game that if we need a goal for example, or if we need to hold on, then we’ll make that decision when it comes.”
With nails no doubt being bitten by supporters, and that’s even before the match kicks off in Greater Manchester, asked if he could actually enjoy the build-up to the occasion and the fixture itself, Wilshere added: “I think when you’re so process driven then every game there’s so much prep that goes into it and there’s so much detail we try and give the players without giving them too much, we’ve slowly increased that over the season and the players have been excellent with taking on that input, so when you’re in it, it feels like another game.
"Of course when I go on my phone or I listen to people talking, I know and I know the context of the game and how important it is to everyone as the last few days we’ve been so in, in trying to get the best plan to beat Bolton. Now we’re going to sit on the bus for three or four hours, it might sink in a little bit more, but I also think my job is to remain balanced and the players want to see that. The players want to see me calm, want to see me giving good information and that’s what I’ll try and do.”