Wilshere impressed how much Luton new boy has matured since Hammers debut
Ashby made his West Ham debut with Hatters boss alongside him
Luton boss Jack Wilshere was impressed to see just how much new signing Harrison Ashby has matured since his early days at West Ham United after the Newcastle United right back moved to Kenilworth Road on a season-long loan last week.
Back in September 2020, aged 18, Ashby, who had come through the academy at the east London club, made his full debut for the Hammers when starting against Hull City in the Carabao Cup. Also lining up that day was a certain Hatters manager, with Wilshere, in the latter stages of his playing career, turning out for his boyhood club in what turned out to be his last appearance for the Irons.
Ashby got through 69 minutes, before having to go off injured having broken his fingers, as he didn’t play again that season, his next outings coming the following campaign, with run-outs in the Premier League, Carabao Cup and Europa League, plus three Vertu Trophy matches for the U21s as well.
Having featured in two Europa Conference League clashes during the 2022-23 season, Ashby was snapped up by the Magpies for a fee of around £3m, as with Wilshere hanging his boots up and looking to dip his toe into management, he kept a close eye on a player who has yet to make a first team appearance at St James’ Park, having loan spells with Swansea City, QPR and then Bradford City last term.
Ashby was sent out for his fourth stint by Newcastle last week, as he will now look to really make his mark on a Town side who have been crying out for a right back in recent seasons. Speaking about his latest acquisition, Wilshere said: “He’s dynamic, a good athlete, technically really good. I played with him, it was Covid, we played against Hull in the League Cup, so I remember him and I always followed him.
"He went to Newcastle and also someone else I follow as I worked with Eddie Howe, who I like a lot. The way he coaches, you can see what Eddie’s done with him, how he’s developed as a player, but also as a person. He’s really mature, he’s hungry, he wants to get better, he wants to be coached, he made that clear from when we first met up. It’s an area we’ve spoken about, we’ve obviously got Izzy Jones who’s a top full back at this level, but we need competition, plus also the ability to rotate and still have good quality there.”
Wilshere’s last signing from a top flight club was attacker Emilio Lawrence who headed to Luton from Manchester City last season with his experience of senior football just a handful of Vertu Trophy matches. Ashby, however, is four years older, while he also had a fair bit more exposure to the men’s game, with over 50 league appearances under his belt, 29 of those coming in the Championship, as he also played eight times for the Bantams in League One too.
On the benefit of being ready to go, Wilshere continued: “I think his experience is interesting, because he went to Swansea when they were in the Championship, he went to QPR when they were in the Championship, and it probably felt like his next step would be either to break into Newcastle’s first team or get a loan maybe lower end Premier League or higher end Championship, that would have been his progression, but then he got injured around two days before deadline day last summer.
"He had a loan lined up, but he couldn’t do it, so he had to spend a little bit of time injured. Then he probably recognised that natural progression hadn’t happened and he was willing and open to going into League One to try and get some game time, try and improve. The one thing that struck me when I met him again, and when I played with him when he was 18, is he’s matured a lot. I’m looking forward to having him in the squad. He’s a good character as well, so I think he’ll fit straight into the group.”
Although Ashby didn’t get the minutes he would have wanted at Valley Parade last term, with just two starts and six further outings off the bench, the fact that he made sure he made the most of his time in Yorkshire was something that also impressed his new manager, who continued: “We looked at him in January and it didn’t quite work out.
"I know that he was injured the first part of last season and we were aware of that and also probably felt we had to strengthen in other areas as a priority. But he was someone that I knew, so we kept track of him. He went to Bradford, I spoke to him about that, he probably didn’t get the playing time that he wanted, but he loved his time there. I always think that’s a good sign of a player that, yes it’s important that we want players that want to play, but also there is another side. You have to have a good attitude towards training and improving and he has that.”
With the arrival of Ashby, it could well free up attacker Izzy Jones to play further forward, despite Wilshere labelling him as Luton’s best right back at times last season. The boss has often asked his full backs to venture inside at times, as Joe Johnson did last term, and whether that is something Ashby can do too, he added: “I know Izzy is one of our most versatile players, like last season, anything we ask for him, whether it to be to go inside as a full back, whether it be to go on the highest line.
"In my second game when we got our first win, he came on as a left winger and got the assist for Lamine (Fanne), so Izzy can play in a number of positions and he’s a threat in all of them. We’re going to have to work with him (Ashby), but probably one of the biggest attributes to be able to do that (cut inside) is your understanding of the game.
"He certainly has a good background of that, first at West Ham and then going to work with Eddie, so you have to be technically good enough to do it, so he could. I’ll have to see him in training and in a few games in pre-season to see what his best attributes are, because he is really athletic so we could get him going on the outside and overlapping. It’s good he can do a number of things, but we have to find out what way that first into the team.”