Town boss insists Luton starlet Benagr has earned his 'complete trust'

Luton boss Jack Wilshere has spoken of how he now has ‘complete trust’ in teenager Benny Benagr after the academy graduate was named in the starting XI at Premier League giants Chelsea on Thursday night.

The 18-year-old has quickly become something of a regular in the match-day squad this season, a quite remarkable rise for a young talent who had only ever been picked for one first team squad prior to the current campaign, that back in October 2024, a Championship clash with Sunderland, injury hindering his progress last term.

Having been alerted to Wilshere by the club’s academy staff, Benagr went out to Spain to train with the first team at short notice during pre-season, impressing the Town coaching staff with his efforts in Murcia to get his chance in a number of friendlies, before earning a maiden competitive start in the first round of the Carabao Cup at Gillingham, capping his day in style with when scoring the second goal in a 3-0 success in Kent.

Substitute outings against both Reading and Notts County when the League One contests were firmly in the balance further showed just how highly he is clearly rated by Wilshere, who then selected him for what was easily the biggest occasion of his fledgling career to date, in the side that went up against the Blues in front of 32,210 at Stamford Bridge, as he was facing French international defender Malo Gusto, who cost around £30m when signing from Lyon in 2023.

Deployed in more of a wingback role, Benagr also had to keep an eye on Brazilian trickster Estevao, who was a constant menace all evening for the hosts, but the attacker was still able to show what he is capable of going forward too, unleashing one snapshot that skewed well wide in the first half, with another appearing on target until it was blocked away.

He also showed good vision to find team-mate Emilio Lawrence with a well-judged pass as the Manchester City loanee, whose own place could now be under threat due to the emergence of the teenager, was unable to make the most of the opportunity. Benagr was also refreshingly eager to run his man whenever possible in the second period, causing Gusto some issues, before making way on the hour mark, having given a fine account of himself.

It led Wilshere to say: “I love him, he’s growing and I keep saying that every opportunity he gets or every challenge he faces, he takes it and he takes it with a smile, with energy, with desire, with confidence I would say as well. It’s credit to Benny because you can only do that when a young player takes an opportunity that’s put in front of him and that’s all he’s done.

"He came to Spain, he was a late call up to Spain, he arrived on the Sunday with a backpack, he got on the plane, he woke up Monday morning at six o’clock, he was thrown into resilience day, he smashed that, he then trained really well through the week, he got his opportunity in the game and probably should have scored in that game, but he looked a threat against a good team.

"We came back, he got another opportunity and he scored, so every opportunity that he’s had, he’s taken and I think he did that at Reading and it’t credit to him, credit to the academy for preparing him for that, but I have complete trust in him. That’s, in my opinion, the best way to develop a player, yes they have to train and work on certain things, but also they have to play.

"I think throughout the whole team we did that, that grew within the game and that’s normal when you come up against a team that will be right up there in my opinion in the Premier League, that have good players, that the boys will watch all the time on TV. There is that initial period, but we dealt with that really well during the game, but a lot of good performances and a lot of players will grow from that.”

Benagr’s efforts in front of the Sky TV cameras in West London certainly impressed team-mate Harrison Ashby too, who stated: “If you look at his performance, he’s just himself. I think that's the one thing that I’m going to keep telling him, just be yourself, don’t try and play anyone else’s game, just do what you feel like you’re going to do. You can see tonight when he's running people down the line, he’s electric, so hopefully more appearances for him to come.”

While skipper Kal Naismith, who didn’t make it on to the field in midweek, believes Benagr, who is 16 years his junior, can go on to make quite a name for himself in the game, as he added: “He’s just an amazing young lad. When he comes in and trains with us, it’s no fuss, he just gets on with it, a lovely lad and I love that, that’s the kind of people you want to do well bit.

"Then you see his quality on the pitch, he's amazing, he listens, he’s such a threat in behind, he just wants to be positive when he gets it. He’s a real player, he’s got a real chance, and then it’s up to us to show him the way, show him how to train every day. It won’t be hard for him as he watches, he’s got a great attitude, but it’s up to us, up to the fans, up to everyone to just look after him, but he’s going to be a hell of a player.”