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DEVELOPMENT SQUAD MATCH REPORT | LUTON TOWN 0-0 AFC WIMBLEDON

18 September 2018

Club News

DEVELOPMENT SQUAD MATCH REPORT | LUTON TOWN 0-0 AFC WIMBLEDON

18 September 2018

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The Hatters development squad kicked off their EFL Central League campaign with a 0-0 draw against AFC Wimbledon at the Brache earlier on today.

A mix of youth team and first team players made up the Town side that was taken by first team coach Joaquin Gomez, as well as three trialists.

Chances were at a premium throughout the game, with trialist A seeing his shot comfortably saved by Nik Tzanev 15 minutes in, before trialist B headed over from a corner six minutes later.

Trialist B had the best opportunity of the game when he was put through one-on-one with Tzanev, but the stopper did well to get a strong palm on it before a Dons defender cleared it off the line ten minutes before half-time.

Five minutes after the restart, Jack James saw his cross well met by Aaron Jarvis, but his header was claimed relatively comfortably by Tzanev.

Trialist A wasn't too far away as he went on a decent run, before cutting onto his right and shooting from the edge of the box, but he dragged his effort wide to the left of the Wimbledon goal.

Harry Isted was forced into a brilliant save with 20 left to play when a shot ricocheted off James, it hit the keeper's feet before curling towards the top right corner, the former Stoke City man clawed it away from goal acrobatically to ensure he kept his clean sheet on the afternoon.

The Hatters will also face Peterborough United, MK Dons and Southend United, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City, Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers in the Central League.

Gomez said: "It was a difficult game. we had a couple of players that are not with us on a regular basis, so we had to change what we usually do – change shape, which we don't usually like to do. I thought they worked hard, getting their minutes and distances in, which gets them up to speed.

"We lacked quality, we weren't as expansive or as fluent as we normally are, but we got through it. We created enough chances to win it. But we just lacked a bit of quality to keep the ball a bit better in the final third.

"We play these sorts of games to ensure that they get the minutes they need and get up to speed. We've got a very competitive squad, and you can't replicate on a training pitch what you get from a league game, so they got that."

TOWN XI: Isted, Musonda, Senior, Swindells, Sheehan ©, Trialist A, Read, Trialist B, Jarvis, Trialist C, James.

On the bench: Holden, Tomlinson, Neufville, Greco.


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