Arsenal hero Jack Wilshere roped into cheeky 'managing against Tottenham' discussion

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Former Arsenal star Jack Wilshere has played down talk of potentially facing Tottenham in the Championship next season as his Luton Town side push for promotion to the second tier. While Luton remain in contention for a play-off spot, Tottenham are fighting to stay up with just four matches remaining.

Roberto De Zerbi secured his first victory as Tottenham boss at the weekend with a 1-0 triumph away at Wolves , though the result was marred by further injury setbacks to Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke. Spurs find themselves 18th, two points from safety, locked in a relegation scrap with West Ham .

Spurs make the trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, while West Ham face Brentford. As for Luton, Wilshere is determined to steer his team into the play-offs. They occupy seventh spot, just one point behind sixth-placed Stevenage, with everything hinging on Saturday's final match.

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Luton's play-off chances depend on defeating Bolton Wanderers and Stevenage dropping points against Wigan. With so much at stake on Saturday, Wilshere featured on talkSPORT Breakfast on Wednesday.

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour pressed him on the prospect of facing Spurs in the Championship next term. "I knew you were going to say that," Wilshere responded, while smirking.

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"I knew you were going to say that... Listen, the focus is on us. We only focus on us."

Heading into their clash with Villa, Spurs are contending with a staggering 10 players on the treatment table. Wilson Odobert, Mohamed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie and Pape Matar Sarr are all unavailable at the worst conceivable moment.

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Things look considerably rosier at Kenilworth Road, where Wilshere has already got his hands on silverware after steering Luton to triumph over Stockport County in the EFL Trophy final earlier this month.

When asked about facing a play-off rival on the final day, Wilshere added: "It's still tight and I know they'll want to finish third because you obviously get a little bit of advantage. I believe that once you're in the play-offs the games are something special and it's about who the best team is on the day and who deals with that pressure the best.

"I can't see Bolton doing that [resting players] because they'll want to finish third and I think you get home advantage for the second leg. I think they'll be going for that and also you want to go into it in good form, you want to have momentum and they're a good team."

Taking charge in October, the ex-Arsenal midfielder is flourishing in his first permanent position in senior management.

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