Luton Town boss Jack Wilshere surprisingly admitted he must “go back to the drawing board” after his side’s latest away setback, a 1-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic.
The Hatters’ miserable run on their travels continued at the Brick Community Stadium, where a change in system failed to spark the response Wilshere had hoped for. For the first time since taking charge at Kenilworth Road, he opted to start with two recognised forwards, handing on-loan Ipswich Town striker Ali Al-Hamadi a full debut alongside January arrival Devante Cole.
The intention was to inject greater attacking presence and exploit Wigan’s high defensive line, but it never truly materialised. Al-Hamadi came closest in the first half when he nearly turned in a Jake Richards cross, while Cole’s contribution was largely limited to pressing and hold-up play. Neither managed to register a shot on target during their time on the pitch.
Instead, it was Luton who were left exposed after the break. Wigan, under new manager Gary Caldwell, emerged with greater intensity and found the decisive moment when former Hatter Joe Taylor was slipped through and delicately lifted the ball over Josh Keeley to seal a 1-0 win.
Honest assessment doesn’t win points
Wilshere was candid in his assessment afterwards, although honesty doesn’t get you wins..
“With disappointment, with frustration, with question marks about why we didn’t execute certain things better and then didn’t start the second half anywhere near well enough.
“We allowed them to build momentum and it’s difficult when you lose that in this league and when you lose momentum and you’re chasing it.
“You’re playing against a team with a new manager, they start to get on the front foot, put balls in your box, play on the front foot, we didn’t manage it well enough so a frustrating evening.
Itis worrying for Luton fans that after two thirds of the season, with a budget four times that of some teams ahead of them, they’re still unable to find a pattern to compete in football matches. Wilshere explained the thinking behind the tactical tweak, adding:
“We wanted to try something different as clearly what we’ve been trying away from home hasn’t been working. We wanted to have a different kind of threat, use what we’ve got in the building, we’ve got two nines that have a presence, that can run behind but we didn’t do it.
“We spoke about doing it, we spoke about their high line, but we couldn’t execute it well enough. We’ll have to go back to the drawing board because that didn’t work either.
The defeat marks Luton’s sixth successive away loss and extends their winless run on the road to eight matches, stretching back to November. It stands in stark contrast to their form at Kenilworth Road, where they are unbeaten in ten with six victories, a disparity that is increasingly damaging their hopes of breaking into the League One play-off picture.
Luton woes continue
With the Hatters still well placed in the table but faltering away from Bedfordshire, finding a solution quickly is essential. Their next fixture offers a return to home comforts, yet unless their travel sickness is cured, Luton’s promotion ambitions risk stalling at a crucial stage of the season.
Sadly, it looks increasingly as if Wilshere doesn’t have the answers to Luton’s slide. They’re on the cusp of the play-offs, but in a division where they have parachute payments, and nobody else does, they really should be much further up the table.
There is surely a big clock ticking at Kenilworth Road, counting down the days to Wilshere’s departure, and unless he can find something fresh on that drawing board, the hands might just be speeding up.
