Luton Town cruised to an 8–1 pre-season victory over NK Triglav Kranj in Slovenia on Saturday, with Matt Bloomfield keen not to get “carried away” as he was forced to field a number of academy prospects after a week disrupted by illness and injuries.
The Hatters were only 1–0 up at half time through a volley from Zack Nelson, but turned on the style in the second half against the Slovenian second division side. Goals from Lasse Nordås (2), Taylan Harris (2), Jamie Odegah, Shandon Baptiste and Vladimir Paternoster completed the rout in a match of four 30-minute quarters that saw several academy players take their chance due to unavailable senior names.
With defender Mark McGuinness sent home after falling ill, and Lamine Fanne also sidelined with a knock, Bloomfield had to shuffle his pack — but was pleased with how the players responded.
“There’s lots of pleasing elements to it,” he said in a post-match interview for the club. “I thought the first 60 was obviously more competitive. Really pleased with some of the parts of the play that we were, in possession, very good. Our intensity to press was very good.”
He added: “Obviously, as the game went on, the younger opposition got — the competition level wasn’t quite as high as maybe we would have liked, but it’s good to get some goals and uh it’s just a shame we didn’t get a clean sheet.”
The match was the final run out of a week-long pre-season camp in Slovenia, one which Bloomfield said reflected much of the work done during the trip, though he was keen to avoid overhyping the result.
“It’s been a very solid week for us. We’re not going to get carried away. It’s a good win. It’s nice to get another win. It’s a habit we want to get into,” he said.
