Manager Matt Bloomfield says Luton must talk about and understand the prospect of equalling the club’s worst-ever run of away defeats if they are to avoid it at Sheffield Wednesday today.
Though the 40-year-old has only been boss of the Hatters for little over two weeks, he is the man tasked with ending a dismal run of 12 consecutive away defeats in all competitions. If Town make it an unlucky 13 at Hillsborough they would match a record that was set in the 1927/28 season.
Bloomfield is yet to win in his three games in charge, with two consecutive defeats under his watch with the last one on the road ending in a 3-2 defeat at Oxford despite Town leading 2-1 at half time.
To help change the Hatters fortunes, the club has been busy in the transfer market this week, and recruiting goalscoring pair Thelo Aasgaard from Wigan and Millenic Alli from Exeter, while also signing Kal Naismith and Josh Bowler on loan from Bristol City and Nottingham Forest, respectively.
Luton’s aggressive approach to the window has been a necessity as they currently languish second from bottom in the Championship and under serious threat of back-to-back relegations. Even aside from the unwanted record, with games running out, Bloomfield must find an away-day solution sooner rather than later.
“We want to win the game. Nothing in my mind ever changes from that, from the outset,” the manager said.
“I understand the record. I’m totally respectful of that. And we don’t want to stop talking about it. We’ve got to understand it. It’s a fact.
“So, let’s reference it and understand it, but we want to win. I want to end the run. I want to win and we want to start moving forward.
“This group, they’re working really, really hard. I’m really pleased with the [transfer] business. There’s lots of positives. And we have to be aware of them, but also understand where we are at. And we’ve got to make improvements too.”
Despite the daunting statistic, the manager remains optimistic, saying: “Winning is a habit, and not winning can hang around. We have to get in the habit of winning games and performing well.
“Winning doesn’t just happen. You have to perform well. That’s the way I believe. Occasionally you have a game where you don’t play great and you sneak a 1-0, but you can’t live your life around that. You have to build good habits. You have to perform well regularly on the training ground.
“And what we do on the training ground replicates on a Saturday. It’s timings, it’s meetings. It’s the way you react, it’s the way you train in the gym.
“It’s the way you train out there. It’s the way you conduct yourselves. All those good habits pay you back. And we have to keep doing the good habits and building performances, and with performances come results.”
Defensive issues have been a key concern all season, with the club shipping the second highest number of goals in the Championship this term (48), and Bloomfield highlighted the need for improvement in defending the box.
With his first full week to work with the squad, Bloomfield said: “We’re not leaving anything down to chance and hoping. We have to make sure that the work we’re doing on the training ground comes out on a Saturday.
“But of course, psychology plays a part of football. It plays a part in all of our everyday lives. It plays a big part. So we have to understand that as well. The only way of building confidence and is to do it and do it and do it and do it, and that’s what we’ve gone after this week, and that’s what we’ll do after Saturday, going into the next batch of games, because we’ve got a bit of a gap.
“We’ve got a training schedule there that we can really go and work, and we’ve been working hard this week. The only way to build confidence is to see yourself doing it. We have to do it out there on the on the training ground, and then we have to do it on a Saturday.”
The match presents an opportunity for new signings Naismith, Alli, Aasgaard and Bowler to make an impact.
Naismith, in particular, hasn’t played since November 5 and has had an injury-hit few seasons at Bristol City, so will be carefully managed due to fitness concerns.
“He hasn’t played loads and loads of football, so it would be naive of us to rush him into too much here. He’s going to be involved because he’s a real good player and he’s a real good character,” said Bloomfield of the 32-year-old.
“We have to make sure it’s right for Kal as well. Players are in their 30s are not players in their 20s anymore, especially when they’ve had injuries. So you have to make sure they’re training load and that you look after them the way that’s right.
“Football is an individual game now. You have to make sure that in terms of their load in, you have to make sure that it fits the individual. And what we do for Naismith is not the same as what we do for Mark McGuinness and Zack Nelson, and it’s just different. But he’s here to make an impact and we’re really pleased to have him.”
Lamine Fanne’s return bolsters the squad, as the midfielder was injured when Bloomfield arrived, having only just made his debut on January 6.
“Lamine is back in the squad , which is good. He was really close last Saturday but didn’t quite make it, so it’s good to have him back,” said Bloomfield.
“We’ve had a little few knocks and niggles off the back of the game last week, but it’s good to have Lamine back and we’re really pleased to add him to the squad.”
However, Tahith Chong remains sidelined with a hamstring issue, while Victor Moses is fit but just hasn’t been selected for the last two match day squads and could even potentially leave Luton before the end of the transfer window.
On Chong though, the manager said he is: “Not close. Not right now. He’s doing his work. He’s not in the squad tomorrow. It’s not imminent, but he’s not far away. Again, I’m just waiting to welcome him back, but, no, it’s not going to be for tomorrow.”
Bloomfield emphasised the importance of tightening up defensively and building on recent training ground efforts, saying: “We know we have to tidy up and tighten up defensively to start picking up points.
Sheffield Wednesday poses a significant threat, with Bloomfield highlighting the influence of Barry Bannan and Shea Charles in midfield.
“They’ve got pace at the top of the pitch and real attacking threats. We know we’re in for a stern test,” he said.
But while Town have dipped into the transfer market to try and cure their shyness in front of goal, as well as adding Naismith to add some leadership in defence, Bloomfield knows they have to quickly become much harder to beat on the road.
“We have to tidy up and we have to tighten up defensively to start picking up points in the way that we want to. So we know, we understand that. We know that we’re working on it. And we have to go and take it out there [at Hillsborough].”
The Owls’ infamous home is expected to provide an intense backdrop and though Bloomfield expressed his respect for the venue he maintained that his focus is on securing a positive result.
“It’s a fantastic football ground with real history. We’re looking forward to the challenge,” he concluded.
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