Luton boss Matt Bloomfield has thrown his full support midfielder Zack Nelson after the youngster’s error in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Plymouth.
Nelson was at fault in the build-up to the Pilgrims’ second goal, when Bradley Ibrahim picked his pocket on the edge of Luton’s 18-yard area to slam home and make it 2-1 to Argyle just before half time.
But his manager is adamant the 20-year-old remains a key part of the club’s future and he made it clear that one mistake will not dent his belief in the Hatters academy graduate.
“Zack’s going to be a fantastic player. I think so highly of Zack Nelson. I’ve got such high hopes for him as a footballer. I believe in him so much and he knows how much I believe in him. I tell him every day,” Bloomfield said.
The manager also praised Nelson’s temperament and desire to improve, saying: “He’s a resilient boy. He’s really, really determined. He has a massive hunger for a big career in the game. He’s got high ambitions and high expectations of himself, so he’ll be absolutely fine.
“Like I say, I think he’s been great. I think he’s been absolutely brilliant in the last few games that he’s played. And yeah, he has my full backing. He’s going to be a fantastic player for us.”
Bloomfield highlighted that Saturday’s slip-up is part of Nelson’s learning curve, adding: “Football is full of knocks and disappointments. Whether you’re left out of a team, whether you receive an injury, whether you lose a game.
“It’s a life and your resilience has to be extremely high to live a life in football. The more he plays, the more he learns about the game. He’ll make more and more right decisions. He makes a lot of right decisions, by the way. He’s a very good player.”
Nelson is becoming an important option in Luton’s midfield rotation this season, offering energy and an attacking threat, that has seen him picked ahead of Lamine Fanne, who did not make the bench against Plymouth, while Liam Walsh has been ruled out for up to two months after a shoulder surgery yesterday.
Bloomfield said: “He’s getting into the top third of the pitch a lot more of where we wanted him to get. He offers a fantastic attacking threat, the way he moves the game out for us, knits it together.
“The energy he shows. There are other parts of his game that we’re trying to work on in terms of game understanding and the physical part of the game, which in League One is a big part of being a midfield player.”
With Luton travelling to Lincoln this weekend, Bloomfield is confident Nelson will respond the right way, saying: “He’s very coachable and there are certain things that he knows he’s trying to improve, but I love the work he’s doing and we love working with him.”
