Luton head to Blackpool tonight with manager Matt Bloomfield cautiously optimistic despite still battling a long injury list that leaves up to 12 players unavailable for selection – though Jordan Clark could be passed fit in time.
The midfielder, who missed Saturday’s 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers, has had positive scan results on a calf problem, but in the middle of a three-game week, the 32-year-old may not return until the trip to Stevenage at the weekend.
“I hope to have Jordan back at some point this week,” Bloomfield said, adding: “There’s no real muscle damage to his calf injury. He might be available for Tuesday, if not, hopefully next Saturday, but we’re literally just taking it day by day with him.”
Striker Jerry Yates is pencilled in to return this weekend at Stevenage, subject to completing concussion protocols, but Bloomfield will still be without him tonight as well as Reuell Walters, Liam Walsh, Elijah Adebayo, Ali Al-Hamadi, Hakeem Odoffin, Nigel Lonwijk, Jacob Brown, Isaiah Jones, Shandon Baptiste and Joe Johnson.
“It’s not an ideal time to have so many unavailable when you’ve got such a busy week,” the manager said, adding: “But it’s a challenge ahead, and we’ll make sure they recover properly and we’ll attack every moment we can.”
After last week’s humiliating 3-1 loss at Lincoln, the Hatters responded with renewed grit and a clean sheet in edging Doncaster, Kal Naismith heading home the only goal of the game. Luton will hope to replicate that application and desire when they travel to Bloomfield Road tonight having not lost to Blackpool in their last seven meetings and with the Tangerines struggling at the foot of the League One table, third from bottom, losing six of their nine league games, though only once at home.
“Away games on the Tuesday evening under the lights are never easy with the atmosphere that comes with evening games,” Bloomfield warned. “Blackpool got some really good players. So it’s going to be a tough test for us. We have to make sure the boys recover as quickly as possible and put a plan in place to go there and try and put in a performance.”
The manager admitted the weekend result has lifted the mood, after three defeats out of four prior to win over Rovers, but he stressed consistency must follow.
“We have to get ourselves back together, travel up to Blackpool as a group, stand shoulder to shoulder again on Tuesday evening and put in another display,” he said. “If we can do that, we believe we can pick up some more points this week.”
All five of Town’s victories this term have been complemented by a clean sheet, with Saturday’s earned by a switch from the much-maligned three at the back system to a more traditional foursome.
“I think if you look at our season, we started off looking really solid, right, but we didn’t quite create the chances that we wanted to,” Bloomfield said.
“We then went to two up front and one only one holding midfield play with the two running eights, and we looked like we’re going to create loads, but we also look like we’re going to concede as well. So it’s just getting that balance right. I think is really important for us.
“We want to be a team that attacks, but at the same time, no successful team can concedes lots of goals. So it’s just trying to get the balance right.
“We’ve done a lot of work with that back four this week. Actually, Cohen [Bramall] was also in the thoughts this week, but as we know, he was ill, didn’t train and any time since Tuesday.
“So having Kal’s knowledge on the left hand side and quality on the ball just felt like the right choice. For them to get a clean sheet in their first outing as a four, it was really pleasing.”
That defensive line-up lent itself to a 4-2-3-1 formation, and though they only bagged one goal against Doncaster, the first 30 minutes of the game was a marked improvement in their attacking intent.
“We’re not the finished article yet,” Bloomfield said, adding: “You never are, but you have to keep going after those improvements. Again, there’s probably a lot of mitigating factors as to why the energy just dropped off a little bit in the second half. We are up against a very good team, by the way, like, we can’t take it for granted that we’re going to win any game in this league.”
