Town boss credits his courageous players for dealing with 'anxiety'

Luton boss Jack Wilshere gave full credit to the players for the courage they showed in quelling any anxiety surrounding Kenilworth Road last night when defeating Barnsley 2-1.

The Hatters headed into battle against a struggling Tykes opposition on the back of a 2-1 loss at MK Dons on Saturday which led to a whole host of criticism coming there way from supporters, both at the ground, the visitors booed off by their travelling fans, and also online in the aftermath. It led to Town’s lowest home crowd of the season yesterday evening, under 10,000 in attendance for the first time this term, although they were soon in a more positive mood once Mads Andersen headed home Jamie Donley’s free kick after just two minutes.

With chances at both ends, Nahki Wells then nodded his seventh of the season to make it 2-0 at the break, before Makenzie Kirk pulled one back for Barnsley just before the hour mark. However, Luton held on to claim all three points, as speaking afterwards, Wilshere said: “I’m really pleased with the courage I would say, as courage and confidence are two different things. I can’t stand and just say to the lads, ‘play with confidence’, as they’re just words, I’ve been there as a player when a coach says that and what is confidence built from? Repetition and ultimately you need belief and you need courage.

"The belief is we’re in this together and we’ve got each other's backs. We’ve got a way of playing and we believe that’s going to work and then courage is knowing that after Saturday we’re going into an environment that is a little bit on edge and we understand that there might be a little bit of anxiety in the stadium, but courage is knowing that, understanding that and doing that. The players went through that tonight and the only way that you build confidence is going through that and fighting together and I’m happy for them to see it through.

“We’ve been here before where we’ve had to do that and we don’t want to be in that situation, so that was the message to the players, that’s done, well done, courage, character, passion, everything that the game needed tonight, we delivered. Credit to the players as it wasn’t easy, we knew what we were coming into, we knew there was disappointment around, of course, naturally, when we lose a game like that where we should win, but the players dealt with that well.

“We started fast, on the front foot, settled us down, but we kept that same intensity up and pressure and probably when we look at it back, a little bit of a similar feeling with the chances we create and we don’t take the game away from them. That being said, I felt like we dealt with that period of the game where it could potentially get more and more dangerous, we dealt with that well, whether it be playing a little bit more direct or slowing the game down at times, which I felt last season we didn’t do well enough, so credit to the players, they deserved that.”

Town had gone unchanged for the contest, as Wilshere kept the same side for the third straight fixture, explaining how wanted to give those who had performed at MK Dons a chance to rectify the result. Asked if he had considered making any alterations to his starting XI, he continued: “I think you’re always looking and you change and adapt to your opposition, but I felt there were enough positives in the game on Saturday for the players to go again.

"You think about the goals we conceded, George (Johnston) needed to go again and George has been excellent. We wanted to put him straight back out and face that, he was excellent again tonight, great character from him. But apart from that, we’re short in a few areas, so there weren't really obvious changes to make. I thought this group who played the last three games, we talk about trying to find consistency, but also I have to find consistency with a team, with a starting line-up, to give them the best chance to find that.”

There were some nerves for the final half an hour as once Kirk pulled one back, slamming past James Shea via the underside of the bar when the ball broke fortunately to him, then that led to the odd moment of panic, Town playing themselves into trouble, particularly one incident when substitute Izzy Jones’s pass was cut out in his own half which led to a chance that Vimal Yoganathan really ought to have buried.

However, Luton still remained on the front foot themselves, Jordan Clark putting a free header over, while Wells was denied his second of the evening by keeper Cieran Slicker, Kal Naismith also narrowly off target too as on the way they managed the closing stages, Wilshere added: “I thought we dealt with that really well.

"There were a few moments even after that where we didn’t quite clear it right and there was a little bit of a hesitation at times, or a little bit of anxiety in the stadium, but we dealt with that well. I thought in the last 10 minutes we were back in control. We were trying to create chances, but also managing the game by putting it in the corner and slowing things down, which that’s something we speak about developing as a team, that game management side of the game and we did that better tonight.”