Luton to make changes as Wilshere ponders how strong Town will go for Robins tie
Town will alter their starting XI against Swindon
Luton boss Jack Wilshere is unsure just what kind side he will pick for this evening’s Vertu Cup quarter-final clash against Swindon Town at Kenilworth Road.
The Hatters have made their way to the last 16 by using the competition to give some much-needed minutes to a number of the players who haven’t been featuring as much as they would have liked in their League One campaign. Wilshere has also opted to promote a fair amount of youngsters from the U21s as well, with 16-year-old Fin Evans becoming the club’s youngest ever scorer when making his debut and finding the net in the 3-1 group stage win over Brighton & Hove Albion U21s back in October.
Harry Fox, Jack Lorentzen-Jones and Zach Ioannidis have also made been given their first senior outings, but with a place in the final at Wembley now within touching distance and Town going up against a Robins side who, under the guidance of Ian Holloway, are currently on a run of nine wins and two draws from 13 games in all competitions, which has propelled them up to second in the table, asked if he would go with a stronger starting XI on this occasion, speaking after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Stevenage, Wilshere said: “Probably I think we’ll have to wait and see as the situation might dictate itself, but the players who have played in that competition, JJ’s (Joe Johnson) a really good example.
"We gave him some minutes in that and he started to build, then he got his opportunity as Kal (Naismith) got injured and he’s now stepped up and taken that opportunity, so we’ll definitely make changes and let’s see. If they take their opportunity then they’ll get the chance to go again and I don’t know what will happen if we get to the final. When you’re still in a building phase which we are, I feel like we’re starting to find our identity and we’ve come a long way with that, but when you’re still in that phase then you need to maximise every game and need to maximise every opportunity.
"There’ll be some changes because we need to look after players and give players an opportunity to show what they can do and help the club get to Wembley potentially. We’re looking forward to that one, but we know it will be tough as I’ve seen some of Swindon’s results. They beat Bolton 4-0 so it will be a difficult game, some players will have to recover and go again but there will be some changes again.”
Having picked up a third straight home victory at the weekend, then questioned as to whether any of his injured players who missed the contest might be available tonight, Wilshere added: “I think it will probably be too soon for Jake (Richards). Jake’s probably the closest. Let’s see how Teds (Teden Mengi) is, Teds had a back spasm, but probably from my experience, I’ve had that before, it will be a bit too soon for him as well. It’s too soon for Izzy (Jones) and I’ll need to check on Ethon (Archer). Ethon had a tight calf earlier this week so he missed a few days, but that will be it.”