Town boss happy long-serving keeper proved just how good he is against Leicester
Experienced stopper is at his best against Foxes
Hatters boss Jack Wilshere was happy that long-serving goalkeeper James Shea could prove just how good a performer he still is when producing easily his best display of the season during the 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.
The 35-year-old was starting a sixth League One game in a row, having been recalled to the side in place of an out-of-form Josh Keeley last month, as Town had won three and lost two since his return. Apart from two decent saves in the second period at Wycombe Wanderers, the popular stopper hadn’t had too many opportunities to showcase his talents, although that was to change at the weekend, crucial to keeping the Foxes out in the first period when getting down excellently to his right to palm away Kamari Doyle’s shot that appeared destined for the net.
He then got fingertips to Will Alves’ effort later on, the rebound turned across by Doyle for Emil Riis to divert over the line, although the goal was chalked off due to the forward being behind Shea, and with only Mads Andersen covering on the line, was correctly adjudged to have been in an offside position by referee Martin Woods.
After the break, the ex-Arsenal youngster showed impressive reactions to keep out Conor Chaplin’s close-range header, as the only time he was beaten was by Liam Cullen’s terrific curling attempt from the edge of the box that made it 1-1 in the 90th minute. Callum Marshall’s even later strike certainly eased the disappointment of not being able to keep a first league clean sheet since May 2023, as speaking about Shea, Wilshere, who was with the keeper when the duo were academy graduates at the Emirates, said: “I’ve known Sheasy so many years and his personality is top.
"He’s a guy that, and this is not just me saying it, I’m sure if you asked any of the squad who the nicest guy in there is, it’s Sheasy. He won’t let you down, but he’s also a good goalie as well, let’s not forget that. People think because he’s been here for years, he’s been a number two and don’t get me wrong, he’s a really, really good number two, but he can also play and make saves, so I’m happy for him.”
The Town chief also feels that Shea is certainly being kept on his toes by the efforts of Keeley, who he has seen a real change in since the decision to take him out of the side and returning from international duty with the Republic of Ireland, as he continued: “My message is still the same, I think we need two number ones at this level that can compete. We need two good goalkeepers, but two very different goalkeepers.
"We felt it was the right moment to bring Josh out and give Sheasy an opportunity and I think Sheasy’s taken that opportunity. He’s done really well. He gives us something different in goal, but they're both fighting, they're both working every day. I've seen a big reaction in Josh, especially over the last couple of weeks since he came back from Ireland, in confidence, in aggression in training. So Sheasy has it at the moment, but they’re competing.”
Although Town were breached late on by the Foxes, the fact they limited their opponents, who were plying their trade in the Championship a year ago, to mainly shots from range in the second half, was something that Wilshere was particularly happy about, as he added: “They obviously made a change, so that changes how we press a little bit. They brought (Luke) Thomas inside who’s got a lot of quality on the ball and was able to pick the press off a little bit, which is fine, but everyone ran back, everyone recognised this is the moment we have to defend a little bit deeper.
"What does that mean? It means you can’t be aggressive, you have to close everything inside and sometimes put them into wide areas and we try all we can to stop crosses, but you’ve got to, also at times, back your defenders, goalie and your midfielders to defend your box. We did that well, not for the goal, but I didn’t ever feel there was a clear-cut opportunity. Maybe the header where Sheasy made a good save, but we defended really well.
“We worked really hard second half and all right we can’t quite find our rhythm on the ball, which in my opinion we have to do better and we have to be able to play more in their half. I felt like we kept playing into pressure, but the work-rate and the energy to defend your box and when you concede like that, there’s a natural frustration, but the players just took it in their stride.
"One of the big things in football and in general life really, the team that has the ball, we’re going to expect them to play through us at times, then it’s about how do you want to be? How you want the team to look? Do we want to accept that they’re going to play through us and they’re going to create opportunities? Or is everyone going to run back? And we did that.”