Wilshere admits Wolves loanee could fill Luton's troublesome right back slot

Luton boss Jack Wilshere has stated that on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Nigel Lonwijk could well provide a short-term answer to Town’s troublesome right back position.

The Hatters went into the League One campaign opting for a three man defence under previous manager Matt Bloomfield, which saw the club’s only recognised right back, Reuell Walters, deployed in the wingback berth. He then suffered a groin problem in the second match at Peterborough United, an injury which has kept the ex-Arsenal youngster out since, although he is expected back shortly, meaning that when Bloomfield eventually altered to a back four against Doncaster Rovers a few games before he was sacked, centre half Christ Makosso was shunted out to a position he was unaccustomed to.

The Congo international has stayed there since, and was also used in Jack Wilshere’s first game in charge as well, Town defeated 2-0 by Mansfield Town at the weekend. However, with Lonwijk, who started out at PSV Eindhoven and moved to Molineux in 2021, playing 35 times for a Plymouth Argyle side who won the 2022-23 League One title, fit again after missing out with injury on Saturday, he is certainly an option for the new manager against Northampton Town tomorrow, as when asked if the 22-year-old could be utilised in the full back role, he said: “Nigel I think can.

"Nigel for me is a ball playing centre back. He’s comfortable in possession, a lot of the time when I saw his games before, he played as a wide centre back so the centre back’s split a lot of the time. He’s stepping in in that right sided position, he’s got a good passing range, he can make longer passes, he can connect the ball inside, so yes, there probably will be a stage of the season when he plays there."

Asked just how difficult it is for a centre half like Makosso to move out to a new area, Wilshere continued: “First of all Christ is not a right back as we know and his strength in my opinion is playing as a centre back and how aggressive he can be in front of him at times. You can’t do that as a full back, you open too many spaces and you get caught behind, so there’s some things that centre backs can’t do as a full back, of course there is. There’s a reason they’re centre backs, but the players have to be able to adapt in these situations.

"We have to understand that we are going to have to play with a centre back at right back and we are going to have to adjust accordingly elsewhere. Sometimes it can be a good thing as you’re playing with three centre backs on your last line and you can push one up. I know there’s been a lot of talk and a lot of goals that we conceded on transition and the positive of having a centre back at right back is we can defend those spaces but there’s also some stuff that they can’t do."

Although insisting that systems are not the be-all and end-all when facing the Cobblers tomorrow, the Town chief does hope that he will be in a position soon where he has certain members of his squad back from injury which means he can begin putting his players where they are most natural, adding: “We always adapt, of course we do. It’s so important that the players are, but also the coaches, we adapt to opposition.

"Also, and I think this is a good point to make and I made it to the players, it has to be about us. It has to be more about us, what we do, how we play, they are the things we can control. Formations and structures, it’s a bit more than that for me, but it’s important we understand what they’re going to be and we’ll adapt accordingly.”

"We’ve asked a few players to play out of position and even when you play with a right footed left-sided centre back that changes a little bit the balance of how you can attack on that side, so it’s been difficult for the players. I know they’ve been playing in positions that probably is not their favourite position, so hopefully we get a few players back and put them where they’re comfortable and they can show us what they can do.”