Wilshere believes Town midfielder is becoming a player that Luton 'really needs'

Luton midfielder Liam Walsh is becoming a player that manager Jack Wilshere feels the Hatters ‘really needs’ after a starring performance during Boxing Day’s 4-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers at Kenilworth Road.

Having been injured when Wilshere first took over in October, since returning to full fitness, the ex-Everton youngster has gone on to become a regular on the teamsheet under the ex-Arsenal and England star, starting the last nine league games in a row. Although it was West Ham loanee Gideon Kodua who got the headlines with his two goals in the Hatters biggest league victory since January 2024 a few days ago, named man of the match by the sponsors on the afternoon, he was pipped by many in attendance for the star player tag by Walsh, who was simply superb in the midfield battle.

Having the confidence and skill to get on the ball in the manner that Wilshere wants, it was he who got things rolling, when receiving possession from Teden Mengi well inside his own half and then playing a wonderful midfield-splitting pass through the lines for Lamine Fanne that allowed his team-mate to spin, drive forward and find Kodua for the opening goal.

Time and time again Walsh spread the play wide to Kodua on the right with some terrific crossfield passes, also breaking into the box himself to volley goalwards and win a corner, while in the second period, he also found the runs of Cohen Bramall on the other flank with regularity too, often drawing gasps of admiration from those inside Kenilworth Road for his variety and quality of passing, as he completed the most passes in the match with 61, plus the most dribbles as well, with four of those to his name.

Walsh wasn’t afraid to put the work in to protect the ball either, winning some impressive aerial battles as the contest wore on, also making two tackles and ending up on the right side of his individual duels, with 10 from 12. Having now made 48 appearances for the Hatters since arriving in August 2024, the most he has made for any club during his decade long career, then on the 28-year-old’s efforts, Wilshere said: “I think he’s getting better and better. When I first came here, he was injured and I knew about him a little bit as a player as I’d watched clips of him.

"Then as soon as he came back into training, I thought he had something that can really help us. Probably throughout his career, he’s never really had a run of games, so credit to the medical staff, credit to the performance staff, because I think the more he’s on the pitch the better he will get, but also the better the team will get.

"He’s that type of player who can dictate play, he’s that type of player who in those suffering moments, in those chaos moments, he can put his foot on the ball. Of course you have Jordan Clark in that as well, but I’m really happy with Liam, he’s someone I think this team really needs. Hopefully he can keep growing, we can keep working with him, try to make him understand his position a bit better, try to give him different ways of finding different solutions, but he’s definitely someone who is stepping up at the moment.”