BBCWed, December 3, 2025 at 11:18 AM UTC·2 min readLuton Town head coach Jack Wilshere praised his team's ruthlessness after they demolished Exeter City 4-0 to progress to the last 16 of the EFL Vertu Trophy.
The Hatters, who won the competition under Mick Harford in 2009, took control after scoring three times in the first half despite making 11 changes.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"You always hope that when you change players, as a coach you want the same behaviours, the same energy and the same attitude and they delivered on that," Wilshere told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"We need everyone. I just have to make decisions on where certain players are at, do we need centre-half cover? Do we need right-back cover?
"We have players that are ready to step in and the next time a game (in this competition) comes around, there'll again be players that haven't played (for a while) and I'll have to find a way to get them to deliver and be ready for league games."
Wilshere gave teenager Joe Johnson his first game of the season at left-back, with former Arsenal youngster Reuell Walters returning for his first appearance since August on the other flank.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Reuell is someone I know well - you could see he was ready to step in against a team that can be aggressive and can hurt you, you have to be ready to step in and win duels," Wilshere said.
"JJ is someone I've only really seen for the last two weeks in training. He worked out when to use the inside space and sometimes the outside, and technically he was clean as well.
"They are two interesting profiles that can help us, and I'm really happy that they're back and healthy, and had a good performance."
Luton are next in action away to League Two side Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup second round on Saturday.
