Wilshere hails 'clinical' Luton display after a brilliant 3-0 win at Stockport

Luton boss Jack Wilshere hailed his side’s ‘clinical’ approach in front of goal as they sent a message to the rest of the division when winning 3-0 at leaders Stockport County this afternoon.

The Hatters went into the game on the back of a three game winning run, but were up against a home side, who had won four in a row themselves to sit at the summit. Town were under the cosh for large parts of the first half but although County created a number of chances, Josh Keeley was only really called into action once, denying Nathan Lowe, as both he and fellow attacker Kyle Wootton couldn’t locate the target with their other opportunities.

That wasn’t the case for the visiting Hatters though, Jake Richards opening the scoring when turning in Cohen Bramall’s cross on 34 minutes, with Bramall then sending a superb free kick beyond keeper Ben Hinchliffe four minutes later. Although Nahki Wells was denied when he went clean through, the second period saw Keeley come to the fore, with a terrific penalty save from Lowe, and then keeping out Malke Mothersille’s deflected cross as well.

At the other end, Richards sent Izzy Jones through to make it 3-0, as from Luton's eight shots, six were on target. while the hosts had 13, but only three that tested Keeley. It saw Wilshere’s side climb a place to ninth, and now trail top spot by just six points, as asked if it was a statement victory from his side, the Hatters chief said: “I think probably externally yes as we’ve come to the top of the league, we know it’s going to be difficult, we win the game and keep a clean sheet, but we know where we’re at, we know there’s another game next week and none of this matters if we don’t continue to work in the same way.

"I still feel we have to find more consistency, but you’re starting to see things now and more importantly, more than anything, I loved the way we suffered, I love the way we stuck together. We faced some tough moments in the first half, which you’re going to do, especially when you come to the top of the league away from home. They’re top of the league for a reason, they’ve got some dangerous players, especially on the front line, big players who make it difficult for you, but we defended those moments outstandingly and then were clinical.

“What I'm starting to learn about this league is you can limit those moments, but it's going to be very difficult as they play direct. If you try and press them a little bit more they can put it over you and then you have to try and win the second balls and win the first contacts. It will happen where you’ll give moments away and then you need big moments from your goalie and you need big tackles and we certainly have that. We just have to now go back to training and keep working the way we have, keep working on things that we see in the game and keep the energy as that’s what brings the spirit, the energy and the fight, as the players were excellent.”