Town boss points to Andersen's superb display in Posh victory
Centre half stars during 2-0 success at Peterborough United
Hatters boss Jack Wilshere pinpointed the superb defensive display from centre half Mads Andersen during Saturday’s 2-0 win at Peterborough United.
The 28-year-old, starting his 10th successive game of the campaign for Luton, was paired with George Johnston once more in the middle of Town’s back-line, as he didn’t put a foot wrong during the 90 minutes at the Weston Homes Stadium. After a first half in which the Danish defender wasn’t tested a great deal, Town knocking the stuffing out of the struggling hosts with a Jordan Clark goal inside three minutes, the Hatters appeared home and dry when they began the second half in even better fashion, Kasey Palmer’s cross diverted into his own goal by home midfielder Liam Kelly.
However, that then saw Robbie Savage’s side turn up the heat as they poured forward, led by substitute Matthew Garbett, throwing ball after ball in the box, with Andersen then positioned in the right place to clear Ethan Williams’ shot away from near the line once James Shea and Joe Johnston hadn’t dealt with a ball over the top. It saw the defender finish with 20 defensive contributions in total, the most from anyone on the field for either side, not losing a single header all game, as he also made three blocks as well as one successful tackle.
Having begun his 50th league game on Saturday, Andersen, who was racked with injuries during his first two years in Bedfordshire, making his first 25 starts in his first two years and four months, the second 25 coming in just a shade over 10 months, then asked about his efforts at the weekend, Wilshere said: “He’s done it consistently. I’ve said before, in my second game against Northampton, I dropped him and some of the coaches remind me of that all the time because of how important he is and he’s really important to us.
"He’s a leader, he’s a quiet guy, a quiet leader, but he leads by example and how he plays and how committed he is to defending. He’s also not bad on the ball. A few times this season, for the goal against Leicester, he put the ball in behind, he put another one in against Wycombe, so he’s got that in him.
“We love Mads, we like the partnership that he’s developing with George, so I'm really happy with the back-line. You talk about a high press, that doesn’t happen if your back-line aren’t aggressive and brave and want to step high, because there become too many gaps between the lines, so they’re really important.”
On his partnership with summer signing Johnston, who joined on a free transfer after leaving Bolton Wanderers, the duo having started the last 10 matches together, that run starting in the 2-0 victory against Stockport County, then Wilshere continued: “They’re doing really well. In order to be a team that press high, you have to have a back-line that’s brave, that’s in sync with each other, that move at the right time.
"He understands the right time to do it if we have to, and in this league you face a lot of aerial duels, they’ve been excellent with that, they’re developing a partnership. That happens all over the pitch when you have a consistent team and it’s really important at any level of football. You can have a tactical plan, you can have a gameplan that you’re going into, but if the left back understands how the left winger wants the ball and if the centre back understands how the other centre back moves, it just helps, and those two are developing nicely.”
Meanwhile, goalscorer Clark was also hugely impressed with how Andersen and his defensive counterparts performed against the Posh, especially after the break, as he added: “You know when you come out and get an early goal it’s brilliant, two-nil, but it’s a dangerous scoreline and to be fair to them they were probably better than us second half.
“We were sloppy, gave the ball away too much and probably losing too many duels, that’s what created their chances, as they were getting into our box quite a bit. Full credit to the lads, especially the two centre halves who were winning all the balls and clearing balls. Even the full backs, JJ and Izzy (Jones), who put their bodies on the line and winning freekicks when they need to. It was a really good defensive performance.”