Luton Town may have secret weapon in League One promotion push - Sheffield Wednesday fans will be watching on | OneFootball

The decision to add Chris Powell to Jack Wilshere's coaching staff at Luton Town could prove a real difference maker.

After a poor start to the League One campaign, Luton Town are aiming to throw themselves back amongst the promotion-chasing pack.

Jack Wilshere was appointed by the club in October, replacing Matt Bloomfield at the helm, and the Hatters' start under the ex-Arsenal midfielder has certainly helped to bring some promotion ambitions back to Kennilworth Road.

Luton have won their last two matches in the third tier, with their most recent being a sensational 3-0 triumph against league leaders Stockport County. They have also secured progression in both the EFL Trophy and the FA Cup.

After spending a period as interim manager at Norwich City during the final days of last term, Wilshere returned to the club where his footballing career began, taking on the job at Luton. And following his appointment, the decision was made to bring in the highly experienced Chris Powell as his assistant.

Powell most recently worked in the same role under Danny Röhl at Sheffield Wednesday. And as was the case at Hillsborough, it has not taken him long to win over Hatters fans' hearts.

Luton fans are already loving Chris Powell - He could be a real driving force

In a rather bizarre situation, Powell spent two weeks on the books at League Two outfit Walsall before Wilshere's move to Luton, with the experienced coach brought in temporarily to the West Midlands.

Then, after being snapped up by the Hatters, Powell went on to mention his experience in the game: "I've been around a long time, so I'll be looking to help Jack facilitate what he wants from the team."

Powell carries serious experience across the EFL and beyond, having worked in coaching roles for England, ADO Den Haag, Tottenham and Sheffield Wednesday - while also winning promotion to the Championship as a head coach at Charlton, alongside managerial stints at Huddersfield, Derby and Southend.

And it is this experience that could prove a real driving force for Luton as they look to climb the table after a rough welcome back to League One. While Wilshere has taken understandable praise for the recent turnaround, Powell has also quickly won over the Kennilworth Road faithful.

Wilshere and Powell working together at the club would not have been on many Hatters fans' bingo cards during the prime years of the midfielder's career. However, the pairing have done immensely well across the opening month in charge to rejuvenate a fanbase begging for change.

Luton were relegated from the Premier League only a year and a half ago, and the path since has not been the kindest for supporters, with the Hatters suffering from the dreaded double drop, as has been the case for Wolves and Sunderland in the past.

However, things are beginning to look up for the club. They have a young manager who has a history with the club, and an experienced professional working behind the scenes, who makes no issue of embedding himself among the fanbase of any club he works at.

Sheffield Wednesday fans will keep a close eye on Chris Powell at Luton

Before taking on his role at Luton, Powell's last permanent job was at Sheffield Wednesday.

In a similar situation, he was brought on board by Danny Röhl, who, like Wilshere, was in his first managerial role after working under Ralph Hasenhüttl at RB Leipzig and Southampton. Before he assisted Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich and the German National Team.

Röhl and Powell arrived at Hillsborough with the Owls seven points adrift of safety in the Championship, before the club embarked on a remarkable run that would end with them securing survival with a 2-0 win against Sunderland on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign.

The following campaign, Wednesday, impressed even more, as they amassed 58 points and secured a 12th-place finish. Röhl was understandably the man of the moment at Hillsborough. But it was not just the German head coach who was admired, with Powell becoming equally adored by Wednesdayites.

Over the summer, disaster would strike at Sheffield Wednesday, with both Röhl and Powell leaving the club as a result of the continuous mismanagement of Dejphon Chansiri.

Powell has since spoken extremely highly of the club, and the chance is that the pair would still be at Hillsborough had the situation panned out differently.

With Wednesday placed into administration recently, things are finally beginning to look up for supporters. Because of this, the opportunity is there for those associated with Wednesday to focus on activities away from their own club for a change. They will undoubtedly wish Powell all the best throughout his time at Luton.

The Hatters themselves are looking to bounce back to the Championship after a tough double relegation, and there are not many more experienced driving forces to work alongside Wilshere as he finds his feet in management.