Wilshere hails Cole for not throwing 'his toys out' during difficult spell

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere hailed striker Devante Cole for never throwing ‘his toys out’ when trying to come through what has been an extremely difficult period of his career at Kenilworth Road.

The 31-year-old was snapped up by Town in January as they looked to bolster their forward ranks for an expected promotion push last term, the former Manchester City youngster joining from Port Vale where he was the leading scorer with eight goals, including one against the Hatters during a 2-2 draw. However, Cole struggled massively to showcase the kind of form that saw him net 18 in a campaign for Barnsley once, as he had just one shot on target in his 15 appearances, not starting a game following the 1-1 draw against Stockport on March 21.

This season has been more of the same, Cole once more falling down the pecking order, limited to just 12 minutes when coming off the bench in the Carabao Cup defeat at Chelsea, although he was finally given his chance when named in the side for Tuesday night’s 6-0 Jersey Mike’s Trophy victory over Ipswich Town U21s. Looking far more of a threat, which was expected given the inexperience of the opposition, the striker rose highest to put one header wide, before he got the moment he had been waiting for on 34 minutes.

Team-mate Emilio Lawrence twisted and turned in the box, firing in an attempt that keeper Alex Noonan parried up rather than out, seeing it bounce on the line, as about to spin away, Cole got there first to head it into the net and score his first goal for the Hatters at the 16th attempt. With his spirits boosted, he lashed another attempt over, while he should really have bagged a second after the break, teed up perfectly by Jordan Clark only to be denied by a brilliant goal-line clearance.

Speaking about the forward, Wilshere said: “I’m really happy for him as it’s not been easy for D and I’ve got massive, massive respect for him. It’s been tough for him, I understand that, but also he’s an experienced player who knows he has to train right and he has to prepare himself all the time to wait for that opportunity and does that.

"It’s credit to him, he’s never one who’ll throw his toys out, he's focused, he’s disciplined. He probably saw that this period when Nahki (Wells) and Marshy (Callum Marshall) are away that he’ll get his opportunity and he’s got two games to show that. I thought he did that well, it’s not easy when you haven’t played a game in so long to come back into that intensity, but he did well and I’m happy he got his goal.”

On why he believes that Cole, who has netted over 100 career goals during his 12 years as a pro, has found things quite so difficult on a personal level at Kenilworth Road, he continued: “I think when D came, he had to adapt to how we wanted to play. I know he came through at City, but he probably hasn’t played in a team that attack in the way we do and I think that takes some time to adjust.

"Also at that point, the team was really inconsistent, so then it probably felt like for D that he wasn’t getting that many opportunities in a game and then when he did get an opportunity it wouldn’t fall right or he’d miss an opportunity and then that built pressure. Once you’re in that position as a nine and your confidence is gone, you haven’t scored for a while and people have questioned you, it’s tough to come back from that.

"The only way you come back from it is by working hard, is by committing to it and he did that in fairness. When you’re a number nine and you come into a club and it doesn’t happen straight away, then there becomes some pressure. At that point we bought a number nine because we wanted to score some goals and it didn’t quite happen like that. Then self doubt comes in, confidence is knocked a bit, and its been tough for him, there’s no denying that.

"I’m sure if you asked D how you saw this going and how you wanted it to go, he’s going to say, yes he’s not happy with that, but he has to work through it. He’s suffered a bit and he has, there’s no denying that, now he has to come through it and I’m happy he scored as that’s really, really important for a number nine. He’s got a lot to give and it will feel like that, and the number one thing he’ll feel like he’s got to give is goals and he did that.”

During the contest against the fledgling Tractor Boys, Cole went on to have the most shots out of anyone on the field during his 79 minutes on the pitch, as it was the kind of forward display Wilshere had been after, saying: “He looked more confident and he had more threat. Sometimes with a number nine you just want them to shoot, just shoot early in a game, just get a shot off, get a shot on target, attack the box, get on the end of a cross.

"He did that a couple of times and that builds confidence into the game. His goal, everyone will say he’s got to score, of course he does, he’s on the line, but actually the desire to go there and score, that’s what you need as a nine. As always we’ll go through his clips with him and show him the difference that was there tonight that wasn’t there last season.”

Meanwhile with Marshall and Wells both away on international duty for Northern Ireland and Bermuda this week, then Cole will no doubt lead the line once more at Colchester United next Saturday, in the next group stage game of the Trophy. On whether a good performance could see him genuinely force his way back into first team contention, the striker not even in the match-day squad since that trip to Stamford Bridge, Wilshere added: “Of course he can.

"I want everyone to feel like that, I want all the players to feel like that and I hope they do, I genuinely hope they do, because in this league, this schedule, you need everyone to believe in that. I know sometimes it’s easy for a coach to say and I’ve also been there as a player when a coach has said that, and do you actually feel that? But genuinely that is the way and not just him, JJ (Joe Johnson) hasn’t been involved that much either. I thought he was excellent and you don’t do that unless you train properly, so I want all the players to feel that and their time will come.”