Jack Wilshere claims late draw was the least Luton deserved

Luton boss Jack Wilshere felt his side deserved to claim all three points as they were held to a 1-1 draw by in-form Bolton.

The Hatters had fallen behind to Aaron Morley’s early strike and had to wait until the final seven minutes, after the Trotters had been reduced to 10 men when Xavier Simons was sent off, to level through Gideon Kodua and earn a share of the spoils.

Wilshere said: “I think we deserved it. I thought we took a while to get going, we were playing against a good team, they make some nice rotations and cause you some problems.

“I thought we could have maybe solved them a little bit quicker and then they score in that moment which is a bit of a punch in the head, but we responded well.

“Once we solved what they were trying to do in the build-up, I thought we had some success – we definitely had to have one penalty, probably two penalties in the first half.

“I know they went down to 10 men but even when they had 11 men, I felt like we were building into the game. We were creating opportunities and one of them just has to go in. We have to score a set-piece at some point, but overall I’m happy.”

It was Bolton who struck first, Morley swivelling to fire home from Jordi Osei-Tutu’s cross on eight minutes, as Town’s best moments saw Liam Walsh and Jerry Yates off target.

After the break, Amario Cozier-Duberry somehow headed wide from six yards out and Simons then saw red with 20 to play after a second booking for fouling Kodua.

It was Kodua who salvaged a point after Shayden Morris’s cross rebounded to him via Milli Alli’s touch, with Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher adding: “It was a great goal (from Morley), he took it well, a nice move and he’s in the position where the 10s have got to be.

“I just wish we had got that second goal which would have given us a bit more of a buffer, but credit to Luton, they got back into it.

“We probably shouldn’t be trying to dribble across the middle of the pitch like that, we should maybe release it and I think there isn’t a clearance, that isn’t brilliant when it goes into our box, they’ve got more players on the pitch than us and it felt so in the box and the lad tucks it away.

“So a scruffy goal and another one where we don’t make a cool decision in the heat of the moment, but credit to the players for standing up to that. They’ve shown all season they’re prepared to stand and fight and they did that.”