Luton Town

Luton Town striker Nahki Wells said the team must find a way to "turn the screw" away from home if they are to make the League One play-offs this season.

The 10th-placed Hatters had to settle for a point at bottom club Port Vale on Saturday after Wells had given them an early lead, and they have not won on the road since beating Stockport County 3-0 on 8 November.

It is a marked contrast to their home form where they are unbeaten since mid-October and have won five of the past seven games.

"We can all look each other in the eyes and know it's not through a lack of application, a lack of effort, a lack of will," Wells told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"There's a great team spirit, we've got some experienced players and some really young players, a good bunch of lads that do care.

"But it's the knowhow that's been a big problem for us in the last 10 or so weeks away from home. We have to find a way and no-one else is going to do it for us.

"It's just [about] us as a group cutting out silly, sloppy errors, whether that's defensively or in attack - to get three points in this league is hard, you almost have to do everything right for the 90 minutes.

"We can't continue to drop points [away from home]. At this stage, us as a unit have to stop thinking about May and just focus on the next fixture, and that's something we're emphasising."

Luton have an EFL Trophy semi-final against Northampton Town on Wednesday evening before returning to league action at home to Reading on Saturday.

Image source, Shutterstock

Luton Town boss Jack Wilshere said he is waiting to find out the cost of reaching the Vertu Trophy semi-finals after three players were injured during their 2-1 home win over Plymouth Argyle.

Teden Mengi went off after going down near the touchline and fellow defender Mads Andersen and forward Gideon Kodua both picked up knocks.

"We'll have to wait and see [with Teden]," Wilshere told BBC Three Counties Radio. "When you pull up like that you fear the worst, but hopefully it's not as bad as we think and he'll be OK.

"Mads was an impact [injury], Gids was an impact [injury], but they had to be changed, and credit to the players coming in, because they took on the information and delivered it."

Luton's reward is a home semi-final against Northampton Town next Wednesday, but before that they face a trip to League One's bottom club Port Vale on Saturday.

Although promotion is a priority, Wilshere said changes of personnel for the Trophy - which they were reinstated in after Swindon Town fielded two ineligible players in their last-16 meeting - did not mean they "didn't care about it".

"We prepared in the same way every single time, like we would for a league game, to try and give the players the best opportunity," he said.

"Why we changed was [because] we had a lot of players in the squad and they deserved to play. They were working hard and you need to give them something to hold on to to inspire them, and they delivered in the competition as well.

"In January we lost a lot of players out of the squad, and what we have left have to go on and compete in it."

Luton Town defender Kal Naismith says supporters have every right to boo the team if they fail to perform to the levels of which they are capable.

The Hatters followed back-to-back defeats away from home with a 1-1 draw against Burton Albion at Kenilworth Road - conceding an added-time equaliser which prompted fans to show their displeasure to boss Jack Wilshere and the players.

Naismith told BBC Three Counties Radio they had paid the price for "looking at the clock" from about the 70th minute, having settled too early for trying to hold on for a single-goal win.

"The fans are passionate, that's why I love playing for this club. They've got every right to voice their disappointment. They know we're good players and better than we're showing," he said.

"Even though we were leading 1-0, we weren't really taking the game to them and being ourselves - they obviously see that, the frustration was building and then the goal at the end, it obviously spills over."

Naismith added: "I completely understand, they love their club, pay hard earned money to come and support us.

"We've had a lot of low points this season but one thing the fans have never done is not turned up - you see at other clubs that are going through tough spells, you look at their stands and they're empty, but that's never been the case here, fans come home and away.

"They want better and I feel them, but I promise it's not for a lack of effort, we're constantly working and all we can do is try to bounce back."

The result left Luton 10th in League One, with a six-point gap to close to the play-off places.

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Luton boss Jack Wilshere says Saturday's away game at League One leaders Cardiff City will be a good "marker" to assess the team's progress since his appointment in October.

The Hatters have won 11 of Wilshere's 24 games in charge, losing seven, and are seventh in the table, but away results have not matched those at Kenilworth Road.

"It's a game that excites me," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We've struggled away from home with teams that are direct and put balls in the box - I'm not saying they [Cardiff] won't put balls in our box but they'll try and do it in a different way, which we have to be ready for.

"It's a good challenge for us, a good marker to see how far we've come since I've come in and for us to test ourselves against the top of the league."

He continued: "Our challenge is to go there and try to make them defend for long periods and try and limit the time we have to defend."

Wilshere believes the transfer-window arrival of striker Devante Cole from Port Vale will give the Luton attack an added dimension.

He added: "I like our balance of striker, I like what Nahki (Wells) has brought to us, Ali (Al-Hamadi) is on his way back and Devante has just come into the team and is starting to work out how we play.

"We know what Devante brings and we need to help him understand the moments to run in behind, but he definitely gives us something different."

Image source, Shutterstock

Luton Town midfielder Jake Richards says the Hatters do not fear anyone with a trip to League One leaders Cardiff City looming at the weekend.

The 18-year-old scored from 20 yards in Saturday's 2-1 home win against Bradford City, but their past two away games have ended in single-goal defeats by Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town.

Luton are seventh in the table, four points off the play-off places.

"They're in good form at the top of the table but we believe we can beat anyone with the players we've got," Richards said of the challenge at Cardiff.

"We brought in really hungry players (during the transfer window), boys that really want to get promoted and I think that's the whole group collective (mindset) now, to push to get into that top six and try to get promoted."

Richards now has three goals from 12 league appearances after joining from Exeter City last summer and is enjoying playing alongside vastly more experienced team-mates like Jordan Clark and more recent arrival Kasey Palmer.

"Every opportunity you get under this manager [Jack Wilshere], you've got to take," he said.

"I've done that a few times but I've just got to keep humble, keep working, keep trying to impress in training and hopefully they'll come.

"They [Palmer and Clark] are top players and I can learn a lot from them. Having that quality next to you, you can trust them on the ball, you know they'll find you and it's a brilliant midfield to play with."