Wanderers Head Coach Steven Schumacher wants to see his side “finish on a high” when Luton Town visit the Toughsheet Community Stadium for Saturday’s final day fixture in Sky Bet League One.
The Whites welcome former Wanderers loanee Jack Wilshere and his Hatters team to BL6 as their regular season concludes ahead of an upcoming play-off campaign in the third-tier.
Previewing the contest, Schumacher says his players must “focus on themselves” with a crowd of over 24,000 supporters set to be in attendance.
Schumacher told Wanderers TV: “My message to the players will be let’s try and win the game and let’s try to finish third, there’s a few teams fighting it out behind us for the last play-off positions, but we want to win the game and focus on ourselves.
“We said the last seven games were all going to be entertaining and I think that’s the way it’s panned out, they are all decent teams who have got good strengths, Luton are no different.
“They are a team who are in really good form and some good momentum building, they’ll come here needing to win so we’ll have to be prepared for that, we need to focus on ourselves and try and do what we can do to try and win the game, which will be our last home game in the league, and try and finish on a high.
“We have to be at it and fully focused, preparation is the same and the intensity that the lads have trained at this week has been excellent because they know that they are coming up against a tough opponent and if we’re not at it, we can get embarrassed which will definitely do not want to happen in our final game going into the play-off mix, so we’ll take the game really seriously and it’s important for us.
“It’s competitive, any of those teams who are still going for it in the play-offs, they have all got good attributes and they can beat each other, so however it pans out, whichever way people finish in the final positions, whoever we draw, home and away, it will be a tough game, so we need to make sure we look forward to it.
“If we can finish the season on a high, then that will be great. We want to make sure that we play well, get the right result and say thank you to the fans with our lap of appreciation, thanks for their support and let’s get ready for an exciting play-off push.”
Schumacher provided an update on squad availability, including forward Sam Dalby, whilst Ethan Erhahon also returned to training at Lostock following an injury lay-off.
“Sam has been to see a specialist and we got some good news on both his knee and calf issue, so that’s really pleasing. We’re not sure whether we’re going to risk him for Saturday’s game, but the news is and the way it’s going is positive, and he could be available for the first play-off game because everybody knows how good Sam has been for us, in the second half of the season he has been excellent, so we’re pleased with that news.
“Everybody else is getting there, Ethan Erhahon has joined in with the group, he’s trained three days on the grass. He didn’t play in the B Team fixture (at Blackburn Rovers) but Xavier Simons and John McAtee played, who both need match minutes, and Rich Taylor and Lewis Temple played, so we’re in good spirits which is really good.”
Limited tickets remain on sale for Saturday’s final day fixture against Luton. Secure your seat and cheer on the lads by clicking here.
Watch Steven’s pre-match interview in full by clicking here!