Wilshere felt Town's display in Orient draw was 'not acceptable'

Luton boss Jack Wilshere felt that there were elements of his side’s performance during their 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient last night that just were just ‘not acceptable’ despite Gideon Kodua’s last-gasp equaliser earning what could be an important point on the road this season.

Following 90 minutes of one of the toughest games to watch so far, and there have been a few, the Hatters barely capable of stringing more than two passes together at times, then it wasn’t until substitute Jordan Clark had come on for the final stages that Town looked remotely like a side who were capable of not just finding the net, but actually getting into the opposition’s penalty area.

From 67 percent possession, Town’s passing accuracy was down at 75 percent, with their long balls and accurate crosses a particular let-down on the evening, as they fell behind early in the second half when Kal Naismith’s error was pounced on by Dom Ballard, allowing Theo Archibald to tap into an empty net. The Hatters meanwhile had an xG (expected goals) of just 0.92, as with seven shots, only one was on target, while they only had a single big chance all game, Kodua’s leveller, as Luton failed to force home stopper Killian Cahill, who flapped badly at Liam Walsh’s corner which saw Town snatch a point, into an actual save on the night.

Having seen some improvements since he took over in October, then summing up his side’s efforts in east London, Wilshere said: “I thought we never took control of the game. At half-time we’re having conversations with the staff saying it might be one of those games where we’re not going to get the control we want, we might not be able to put the ball down and I think it was.

"It was one of those nights where too many technical errors, too many times we gave the ball away and then you lose your rhythm, you lose your flow, they build momentum and they then get a goal in the second half and it was difficult. We dug in, of course it’s a lot easier when a team goes one-nil up and tries to protect the goal and don’t want to play anymore, so a disappointing night, but again, credit to the boys, they dug in again and it’s nice to score a set-piece as well.

“We have to find that consistency and if we want to be a team that’s up there and competing at the top end of this league, that’s what we need. We’re still chasing it, how you get there is by going through experiences like this, but then reviewing it on Thursday, sitting down and saying this is not good enough, this is not acceptable and looking at certain moments in the game.

"As it’s easy for a coach to stand here and say we weren’t good enough in every moment, but actually there probably were some good moments when we watch it back. We have to continue to build on that and show the players that as well and then ask for more consistency and how you get that is by training and working hard.”

Although Town returned to a back four in a league game for the first time in some while, a formation that had served them well in their cup matches against Exeter City and Fleetwood Town last week, it didn’t help them in an attacking sense against Orient, with striker Jerry Yates, after missing one chance early on, non-existent in the contest, while Jacob Brown also struggled in a wide right role.

In fact, no-one bar Clark really came out of the match with any real credit to their name, as discussing his side’s difficulties in possession, Wilshere added: “If you want to dominate the ball you have to be clean with it, you have to look after it, you have to make the right pass at the right time and we’re still developing that, we’re still building that. Some games this season I’ve thought, wow we’re really good at that and we’ve had control, sometimes too much without enough threat behind, so we have to get that balance and that variation right, but it wasn’t there tonight.

“It can happen that you have a bad game or your touch isn’t quite right and then you need something else, you need to dig in and fight and make it into a game. We actually went 4-2-4 to try and get four players on their last line to be aggressive and sometimes Lamine (Fanne) would come low, but sometimes it’s not always about that, tactics and stuff, you need a little bit more, something different, where you have to fight or mix it up a little bit, play behind them.

"I don’t think we did that enough in the first half or really asked any questions of their back four and when we’ve got four players against four to try and be aggressive and get behind them, I didn’t think we did. We tried to do it in the second half but then they scored and sat back, so frustrating night, but hopefully a good point.”