Thu Feb 12, 2026 8:30 am
Hatters boss Jack Wilshere has confirmed he might well look to play two upfront in the future after a transfer window in which he bolstered his attacking options with the arrival of Port Vale’s leading scorer Devante Cole at Kenilworth Road on a permanent basis.
Since he was appointed in his first job as a head coach last October, Wilshere has mostly stuck to a formation that has played a single number nine in the final third, with wingers flanking him on either side. Summer signing Nahki Wells has most often than not been the first choice for the former England and Arsenal star, with 12 starts, although he has given opportunities to both Jacob Brown and Jerry Yates, neither able to grasp the spot, leading to the pair now being sent out on loan to Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.
The January window closed with Cole joining having scored eight goals for a struggling Valiants side, while on-loan Ipswich Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi is getting up to speed once more following a quad injury suffered on international duty with Iraq, earning three outings from the bench in Town’s last three matches. Long-serving attacker Elijah Adebayo is also back in training now too having not played since suffering a serious knee injury in early April of last year, which with Wells still staying now the window has shut, means Wilshere has four genuine options for the role.
Asked if having the quartet available could see him opt to play two alongside each other instead of operating with a lone forward, the Town chief said: “Yes, I’ve spoken so much about having variation in attack and having variation in attack is sometimes playing long, sometimes playing short, but it also is sometimes playing with two up top, sometimes playing with one.
"At times this season we’ve played with four on the last line with two central strikers. They (Adebayo, Al-Hamadi, Cole and Wells) give us the variation to do that, depending on the opposition we’re playing, depending on what they’re doing, as we will look at that of course. We’ve been speaking a lot this week as coaches about how we can do that and what it looks like, but we’re really happy that it gives us the option to do that.”