Luton boss Jack Wilshere heaped praise on in-form forward Nahki Wells after he bagged his seventh goal of the season during Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over Barnsley.

The 36-year-old struggled to hit the net for the Hatters last term, on target just five times in the league from his 39 outings, a tally he has already beaten before November this time around, with his sixth third tier strike coming on just his 10th appearance as well. Finding space at the far post, Wells was perfectly positioned to nod in when George Johnston headed Liam Walsh’s deep free kick back across goal to give him an opportunity he couldn’t miss, and didn’t, just four minutes before the interval,

With seven goals now from his 12 matches in total, the quickest amount of matches he has needed to reach that number since the 2019-20 campaign, when he went on to notch 20 goals for QPR and Bristol City combined, then discussing Town’s top scorer, who also came close prior to his goal, when curling against the outside of the post, while he was denied by Tykes keeper Cieran Slicker in the second period, Wilshere said: “Nahki’s just getting better and his movement is improving all the time.

"When I watch it back, I always see that he’s on for a slip pass, or if there’s a shot at goal, he’s always sniffing out if the goalie’s going to drop it, or if there’s a set-piece that goes over, he’s attacking the second ball. I thought in the first half, he helped us massively. If you’re going to be that aggressive with the press, you need to be able to play into the front line and play over them.

"For someone who’s not the biggest, probably the same height as me, he will probably say he’s a little bit taller, but he’s not, he bumps really well and then we’re landing on second balls and it gave us a foothold in the game. It gave us momentum to go and attack and I said it last season when he wasn’t quite getting the goals, but he gives us so much more. Ultimately I know that as a number nine he’ll be happy with his goals.”

What was also something that particularly pleased Wilshere was that Wells’ goal, like Mads Andersen’s before him, came from a set-piece. The centre half had been on target from Jamie Donley’s free kick from the left after just two minutes, putting his downward header beyond Slicker, while it was Walsh from the other flank that led to the Bermuda international converting the easiest of chances.

It was an aspect of their game that Town were so deadly from last season, but have yet to discover the same kind of potency from this term, as Wilshere continued: “It’s really important for the work that goes into set-pieces. I’ve said it before and I know there’s been a feeling this season that we probably haven’t been as much of a threat as we were last year, but it’s not through a want of trying, it’s not through a want of reviewing. We review everything and Pilks (Kevin Pilkington, head of goalkeeping) puts hours and hours into it and the players put hours and hours into it.

"You can see when you get the delivery right, the timing right, which does take practice, it does take time. It’s different, as Jamie strikes the ball differently to (George) Saville did last year, so they need to get used to that. Then the consistency of the team changes, so there’s a different taker. With consistency, those types of things fall for you and tonight you can see. I always talk about the importance of set-pieces at any level, but again when you can’t quite find that finishing touch in front of goal, you win the game through two set-pieces, so that’s an important message.”

Another part of the goal that especially pleased Wilshere, was Johnston’s assist for Wells’ goal, as the centre back bounced from his costly error at the weekend that saw him foul MK Dons’ striker with 11 minutes to go, for what was his match-winning penalty. He added: “There’s a great feeling in this group and I keep banging on about it, but it’s true. The boys fight every single day, they sit in meetings, their eyes are open, they take on information, they take on feedback, and they’re open to that and George is definitely that.

"George has been so consistent this season and he had a moment on Saturday where he makes one mistake and then the learning from that is don’t try and fix it by making another mistake, but I had no doubt he would bounce back. Since he’s been here, he’s been fully in, he’s passionate, he’s got so much energy. I wouldn’t say he’s the loudest person, but he leads in a different way. He’s really important for us, he knew the importance of this game, so I’m happy for him.”