Wilshere demands Luton improve from set-pieces after conceding two 'identical' goals in Robins loss
Town undone twice from short corners against Robins
Luton boss Jack Wilshere has demanded his side improve on set-pieces after expressing his disappointment in the way Town conceded two ‘identical’ goals during their 2-1 Vertu Trophy defeat at the hands of League Two Swindon Town last night.
The hosts, who like their opponents made seven changes on the evening, had gone in front after just seven minutes when Manchester City loanee Emilio Lawrence was fouled in the area by Joe Snowden, allowing Jerry Yates to tuck home his penalty, only just though, as goalkeeper Lewis Ward really should have saved it, the ball somehow squirming through his legs.
Town were then on the front foot for most of the rest of the first half, Swindon’s only chances coming from some errors at the back, Christ Makosso’s wayward passing the main culprit, but they levelled on 37 minutes when a short corner led to Will Wright’s cross being left by his team-mates and wrong-footing recalled stopper James Shea to nestle in the corner of the net.
After the break, the game turned into a more even contest, the Robins going ahead when yet another short corner saw the ball played out to Aidan Borland whose cross was met by Ollie Clarke’s flicked header that should have been routine for Shea. Unfortunately it slipped out of the skipper for the night’s grasp, allowing defender Filozofe Mabete to make the most of the experienced stopper’s error to find the net from a yard or so out to make it 2-1.
Following that, Luton couldn’t find an equaliser, Yates going closest when he was denied by a goal-saving tackle from Ethon Archer’s cross, Archer himself shooting at Ward from just outside the box. Having seen the Robins score from two of their three corners on the night, Wilshere was disappointed that his side didn’t make more of their opportunities, as having 13 of their own, midfielder George Saville taking eight of them, they didn’t really test Ward, especially after the break, the closest they came when Nigel Lonwijk headed wide at the back post in the first period.
Speaking afterwards, a frustrated Hatters boss said: “I thought we started really well, I thought there was a little bit of a drop off, especially second half and probably towards the end of the first half. We had total control, got the penalty, scored, probably had another couple of opportunities where we should do better and try to see the game out early, but second half I thought we dropped off a little bit and when you give two goals away that are identical it hurts as well.
"We spoke about set-pieces before the game, then spoke about it at half time and you have to understand that teams at 1-0 down, they’re comfortable, especially in this competition when you’re playing against a team from the league below. They probably accept that we’re going to create opportunities and we’ll probably score one of them, and at 1-0, they’re probably thinking stay in the game and we’ll try and get a set-piece, or a counter attack or something.
"We allowed them to do that which is frustrating and from our attacking set-pieces, I don’t think we had enough threat. We had a lot tonight, we have to do better in those moments, and you can see the importance throughout every league now of set-pieces. We practice them a lot so we have to get better at them.”
Although he made seven changes for the contest, with Shea, Saville, Yates, Reuell Walters, Harry Fox, Zack Nelson and Shayden Morris all coming in, with the U21 quartet of Dawid Gawel, Vladimir Paternoster, Jack Lorentzen-Jones and Lucas Thomas named on the bench, it demonstrated once more that Town’s battle to earn a play-off spot this term remains a priority.
Despite that, Wilshere was still disappointed that as it stands, his side are going to miss out on the potential of heading to Wembley in the final, as there is a chance Town could be reinstated following Swindon bringing on Aaron Drinan for the second half despite the substitute not being named on the teamsheet.
If Luton’s exit is confirmed, Wilshere added: “We spoke about that with the players before, I asked has Luton ever won this competition? And Harry Fox was the first one to put his hand up and say, ‘yes, we won it, we beat Scunthorpe,’ so it has a meaning. We’re disappointed with the result as we spoke about it before, we’re three games away from Wembley, three games away from probably taking 40,000 fans to Wembley and experiencing a day there which is special for anyone.
"Growing up as a young kid, all the players in there would dream of playing at Wembley, so a lot of respect for the competition. I think you can see throughout the competition, the results we’ve had, how much energy we’ve tried to put into it, so we’re disappointed. Everyone in the dressing room is disappointed, the staff are disappointed, but we have to pick ourselves up and go again for a big game (against Lincoln) at the weekend.”