Wilshere praises 'warrior' Naismith and Town's defence for digging in against Lincoln

Luton boss Jack Wilshere was quick to praise the ‘warrior’ mentality of club captain Kal Naismith for the manner in how he got through the Hatters’ 2-2 draw against Lincoln City at the weekend.

The 33-year-old had started all of Wilshere’s opening 10 League One games since he was appointed as Matt Bloomfield’s replacement in October, before suffering a problem with his calf, an injury he has struggled with over the years, during the 3-2 loss at Reading just before Christmas, which forced him off just before half time at the Madejski Stadium.

Having to sit out the next four games, Naismith saw academy graduate Joe Johnson come in and flourish in his position, but with Teden Mengi absent with a back spasm and Christ Makosso struggling during the 2-1 Vertu Trophy defeat to Swindon Town on Tuesday night, Naismith, who had returned to training in the week, was back in the team that took on the Imps on Saturday, forming a new centre half partnership with Mads Andersen.

Up against one of the most physical sides in the division, Naismith had to contend with the imposing Freddie Draper, showing his disgust when, with the visitors 1-0 ahead, the the attacker won a cheap free kick against him on the right, with his mood worsening when the delivery into the box saw Luton yet again fail to cope with a cross, Tom Hamer outjumping Nigel Lonwijk at the back post, his header hitting Rob Street and going into the net to make it 2-0.

While earlier in the season, Town’s heads might have gone under, it wasn’t the case this time, as Gideon Kodua got up at the back post well to head home Liam Walsh’s deep corner with 35 minutes gone, before Naismith himself had a huge hand in the leveller. The skipper stepped out with the ball from the back, fizzing a pass into Nahki Wells who then turned well and fired a terrific shot into the bottom corner to draw Wilshere’s side level.

After the break, Naismith, like the rest of his back four had to dig in, as he was second for defensive contributions on the day, with three tackles and four recoveries too, getting up well to make nine headed clearances as well. Although the former Scottish youth international was caught out once late one, failing to let a harmless long ball through to Josh Keeley with no-one around him, Liam Walsh getting back in brilliantly to prevent the danger leading to anything, he did then make a terrific block on to ensure Town emerged with the point that was they very least they deserved on the day.

Highlighting Naismith’s desire to get through the entire game, Wilshere said: “Kal’s a warrior, he’s been training four days. We were speaking yesterday, Teds is still trying to come back from his back so we were weighing up who we played. Christ obviously played in the week, Kal had not trained that much, we decided to go with Kal.

"The question then was how long can he last? We were speaking about maybe 60, maybe 70 (minutes), we asked him in that moment and he said ‘there’s no way I’m coming off.’ He’s a warrior and I spoke so many times about his leadership, so he helped us and he’ll help us going forward as well.”

It wasn’t just Naismith who earned some glowing praise from his manager for his efforts in securing Town a point against the promotion-chasing Imps, but also Nigel Lonwijk as well. The on-loan Dutchman was had his critics this term after joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer, although he has played the majority of Wilshere’s reign as a makeshift right back, with Reuell Walters injured and then mainly on the bench since returning, despite starting the 1-0 defeat at Exeter on New Year’s Day.

Having taken a whack late in the first half which saw him require a bandage, the defender also stood up to the aerial bombardment, making some vital headed clearances, particularly in the latter stages, with Wilshere continuing: “That’s Nigel’s third game in a week and when I first came here probably the question mark was could he do that? Now he’s done it and he’s been outstanding with it.

"He got a cut on his eye and there was a question mark, does he need to come off? He didn’t want to come off, he wanted to strap it up and go again and then in the second half he was heading everything. He was competing with Sonny Bradley, which is difficult when Sonny’s got the run on you."

Along with those two, Danish centre half Andersen also came to the fore once more too, with a terrific 22 defensive contributions on the day, way higher than anyone else on the pitch, including 17 headed clearances, as he ensured Luton dealt with Lincoln’s late aerial bombardment, Wilshere saying: “Sometimes I think Mads gets a little bit forgotten, but he heads everything and the way he defends his box and in this league you need it. You know a lot of teams will be teams that play direct, will put balls in your box and you need people to stand up, you need people to land on seconds which I thought we did really well so I’m happy with that.

“I don’t know how he does it Mads, I don’t know how every time, every set-piece, he’s the guy who’s landing on it. Even when we’re preparing for what we’re going to face, he’s the guy that’s there. He’s starting to become a little bit more of a leader as well, he’s starting to control people around him and I’m really happy with Mads. He’s improving as well on the ball, making better decisions and someone we’re going to need in this league for sure.”

Finally, when the Imps did get through the Luton back-line, Town were indebted goalkeeper Josh Keeley in stoppage time, as City substitute Ryan Towler got up well to flick a header goalwards that saw the summer signing arch his back and tip over the bar to ensure the hosts emerged with their point. Wilshere added: “It was really important because apart from the goals, I can’t really remember Josh being challenged. Apart from on set-pieces when they got around him, he came for one, punched one in the first half which was good, but that’s a top save and you need your goalie in those moments to try and help you out.”