Luton saw their undefeated start to the Sky Bet Championship come to an end on Saturday when they went down to a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End. Here are our takeaways from the match.
Town look in safe hands with Horvath between the sticks
After going through keepers like hot dinners last season, one area where the Town squad needed bolstering was in goal and in Ethan Horvath they look to have recruited a very solid option.
Although he had no chance of stopping the goal, which much like last week was an unstoppable rocket, he did everything else with a comfort that suggests he will be a huge asset this term. The Forest loanee made a smart save shortly after the goal, came for some crosses in the second period, showed solid handling and was confident with the ball at his feet. He looks everything the Hatters need.
Campbell continues to come good
On the face of it, it would have been easy to think this might not have been the game for Allan Campbell. On a roasting hot day chasing opponents and harassing them into mistakes was the last thing anyone needed to be doing, but as we have become accustomed to, the Scottish terrier got stuck in and produced another top display. The only blot on his copybook from a relentless 85 minutes before he was replaced by Cameron Jerome for the final stages was a failure to convert a chance that fell at his feet after Elijah Adebayo saw a header blocked. Though it has been a slow start to the season for the Town it hasn’t been for their energetic midfielder.
Lack of a clinical edge costing the Hatters
Luton have played three matches in the league this season and are yet to win any of them, with each following a similar pattern in that the Hatters have got themselves into good positions on a number of occasions only to lack a ruthless edge in the final third. Even in this match Campbell, Cauley Woodrow and Adebayo all had glorious chances to find the back of the net but spurned the opportunities.
While a couple of the Town forwards are getting used to a new team and style and Adebayo is shaking off the rust, Luton’s forward players need to find that clinical edge again quickly.
Retro kit has brought about retro form
One of the appealing sights of the last few seasons has been seeing the Luton players kitted out in kits based on the past. That is no different to this season but unlike the third kit which is modelled on one of the finest days in the history of the club, notably the FA Cup win away to Norwich in 2013, the home one is based on a period where success came in short supply with the Hatters barely winning a match in the two seasons it was worn. With no win in three outings in it this term let’s hope the curse of the current shirt can be put to bed as soon as possible!
Football is a winter game, something the authorities could do well to remember
Now feels like a good time to remind the powers that be in the beautiful game that it is a sport that is played in winter times where the temperatures are a little cooler (yes we’re primarily looking at you, FIFA). That certainly wasn’t the case on Saturday when the Mercury was rising above 35 degrees in the air and would have been a lot hotter in the heat of the playing surface.
That led to a game which was frequently stopped even before we get onto the Preston time-wasting, and for periods played at a slow pace which benefitted nobody. Keep the beautiful game to the winter months and if it has to be played outside of that be flexible and shift the kick off times to a cooler time of day.
