Wilshere determined to emulate Hatters legend Mick Harford and win the Vertu Trophy

Town boss Jack Wilshere is determined to emulate club legend Mick Harford and lead the Hatters to Vertu Trophy glory at Wembley this season.

Luton find themselves one game away from having the opportunity to do just that, as they take on fellow League One side Northampton Town at Kenilworth Road this evening, with the winners going through to face Stockport County in the final, after they beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0 last night, which will be held at the home of English football on April 12.

The Hatters won the competition back in 2009 under then manager Harford, who, along with over 40,000 Luton fans witnessed goals from Chris Martin, Tommy Craddock and Claude Gnakpa see off Scunthorpe United 3-2 in a thrilling contest. Having had a number of other roles at the club since then, the former Luton forward, now club ambassador and senior scout, is still very much part of the fabric at the Brache, often regaling tales of that day to Wilshere and his coaching staff around the training ground.

It has certainly whetted the appetite of the former England and Arsenal star, who often visited Wembley himself as a player, winning the FA Cup twice with the Gunners and representing the Three Lions too, as he believes there is no better motivation than a visit to the famous stadium for Town’s squad and supporters. On his clear ambition to lift the trophy next month, Wilshere said: “That has been my message to the players throughout.

"I know the history of this at this club. Mick winning it, Mick’s here in the building every day and I have conversations with him all the time and he’s so proud of that. I want the same feeling as Mick had, we want to take it all the way. It’s each game as it comes as I don’t want to get too far ahead, but the next challenge is Northampton. It’s a semi-final, with the thought of Wembley, what bigger incentive do the players need to give the fans a day out?

"We’ve spoken a lot about the frustrations of the fans this season, and rightly so at times, we understand that, but we want to give them something back as well and it’s an opportunity to do that. From my experience, I don’t look back on my career and think about certain games, I think about the times when we won the FA Cup, those memories and the brotherhood I have with these players is still there. You win things together, it creates something that you can hold on to forever.”

While the competition often derided by many, Wilshere, who made a number of changes in the early rounds, including handing senior debuts to academy graduates Fin Evans, Harry Fox, Zach Ioannides and Jack Lorentzen-Jones, showed his hand by picking his strongest side so far for the quarter-final 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle recently.

It demonstrated just how seriously he is taking the tournament, as he continued: “Early when I was here we changed the team a lot for this competition because I was coming into an environment that had a big squad, had players that wanted to play, that deserved to play and that was the moment they had to play. Now we’re left with a smaller squad and we have to rotate still, but this competition has been important to me and to us as a club.

“We’ve had the same intention the whole way through and ever since my first game in this competition against Brighton, that was the ambition, that was the dream. We’ve taken each game as it comes and done really well, of course some games we weren’t happy with, but this competition is about winning, getting through and building a culture that is about that and these games have been really positive for that.

“We’re really excited. We know the threat that Northampton pose, it won’t be an easy game, it will be a tough game, an important game for them in their history as well. So a big game, a big evening and something we’re looking forward to as we know that Wembley is one step away and we have to take that step. It’s a big step and we’ll be ready for that.

“We’re all in, all the players are all in, I’ve said that all along. These players really care, players care about the fans, care about the club. They want to win games and we haven’t done that consistently enough and it’s good to be in a competition that gives you an opportunity to play at Wembley and gives the fans something to look forward to, hold on to and get behind.”

Although the Hatters haven’t reached anywhere near the standards they wanted this term, a run of just three wins since the turn of the year making even a place in the League One play-offs look unlikely, then asked just what success in this competition could do for the younger players in the Hatters squad, and even the confidence levels going into the last few months of the campaign, Wilshere added: “We’ve got a group that have struggled a little bit with belief and confidence and this should give players confidence and belief, but also build togetherness.

"We’ve got a group of young players and you think Gids (Gideon Kodua), JJ (Joe Johnson), Emilio (Lawrence), they could easily be at a club where they’re playing in the U21s and this is like their exposure to first team football. From my experience of academy football, the biggest thing in academy football is this competition. They’ve got an opportunity to now play in a semi-final and get to Wembley which is really good for their development, but also really good for the unity and the culture here.”