Wilshere praises bravery from recalled Town youngster on his FA Cup debut
Chigozie has second half of 2-0 first round victory
Luton boss Jack Wilshere was eager to talk up the bravery displayed by young defender Christian Chigozie after he made his FA Cup debut for the Hatters on Saturday.
The 19-year-old, who arrived at Kenilworth Road as an under-seven, had featured twice for Town’s first team going into the current season, before being sent out on loan to National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town in an attempt to boost his exposure to first team football. He got that, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 victory against Slough Town, before playing every single minute of the next five matches, Hemel going on to draw two and lose three.
With Luton having injuries to Hakeem Odoffin and Kal Naismith, while Teden Mengi’s brief return to the bench appears to have now ended, then the former Chiltern Academy pupil was recalled from his time at Vauxhall Road to be involved in the squad for the weekend’s first round tie with non-league outfit Forest Green Rovers.
Wilshere opted to begin with Mads Andersen and George Johnston, the pair have started the last 11 league games in a row, and with the hosts’ 2-0 to the good, replaced Andersen at half time and gave Chigozie his maiden outing for Luton this term, and first since playing in the Vertu Trophy against Barnet over a year ago.
The defender, who suffered with a hamstring injury last term, before signing a new deal in May, certainly didn’t let anyone down, with an impressive aerial display. He also looked good in possession too, which is something that Luton’s coaching staff have been working on with him, as Wilshere said: “I’m really happy for Chigsy as we only made the decision over the last few days to bring him back. He’s been at Hemel, played six games, started all six, which is exactly what we wanted from him.
"He needed to go out, experience men’s football, get beat up a little bit and just feel what that feels like. He’s definitely done that. You can clearly see what his strengths are, his ability to defend, his agility, his ability in aerial duels, and what I was happy with as well was how brave he was with the ball. That was something we’ve been working on since January when he came back, understanding the pictures and being brave, having the courage to do that. He’s certainly done that, so happy for Chigsy and another step for his development.”
Chigozie sure had an experienced member of the side alongside him during the second period, with summer signing Johnston his centre half partner, the defender having only missed 32 minutes of league football this term due to breaking his nose against Wycombe Wanderers last month. The former Bolton Wanderers captain caught the eye once more, as he won virtually everything in the air and also clearing his lines effectively too.
On the decision to keep going with the duo, Wilshere added: “George and Mads, I thought going into the game, we wanted to keep some rhythm in the team and understanding they’d given a lot as well, but at the minute we’re also, with Kal missing, with Haks missing, we’re not blessed with centre backs. So we wanted to bring Chigsy back to get him closer to what it will feel like and George goes again. He played 90 minutes again, he was outstanding, defended his box, made a lot of good decisions. Mads gives 45 and was good as well in the first half.”