Sonny Bradley admitted he is proud of Simon Sluga after the Luton goalkeeper’s vital stoppage-time save earned a point at Wigan in Saturday – a stop that the skipper called ‘Premier League stuff’.
The Croatian international produce a wonder save to keep out Michael Jacobs at the DW Stadium and it was by far and away the most crucial moment of a scoreless match lacking in quality and chances.
Sluga drew praise from manager Graeme Jones, who said the Hatters all gave him a round of applause in the changing room after the game, and Bradley continued the appreciation for the goalie.
“His reactions, that’s Premier League stuff. It’s brilliant from Simon, but I’m saying all this and that’s his job. His job is to keep the ball out of the net, he’s done it and I’m proud of him,” said the centre back, adding: “It’s possibly better close up. I’ll watch it a few times because I don’t think there were too many outstanding highlights because it wasn’t that sort of game.”
It was an afternoon for dogged defensive displays, with Bradley returning to the starting line-up after an injury to secure his third successive clean sheet.
For Sluga, it could be a important milestone after a rocky first half of the season since moving from HNK Rijeka in the summer for €1.5million, as Luton’s club record signing.
A series of costly mistakes eventually led to the keeper being dropped in early October and having to wait until the Christmas period for a recall, since when he’s been like a different goalkeeper.
Bradley said: “On a personal level, I can’t hide from it, he did have a difficult start to the season, but so did a few of us. It’s not just Simon that struggled at the start of the season.
“I think a few of us struggled to picked up the pace of the league, but now he’s right up to speed.
“As we’ve seen, his kicking has come on and I know it’s something he’s worked on. His shot stopping has always been really good and it’s just about the experience of the division.
“You’ve got to remember, he’s in a different country, he’s in one of the toughest leagues in the country, so, yeah, he had a bit of a tough start, but it shows he’s got a great character.
“He could’ve easily, in the first 20 games, gone under but that’s not what Simon’s about. He’s worked even harder on his game, and he makes himself available for every game.
“From a personal level and from what I could see on the pitch, he was our best player, for me. His kicking was spot on and our chances that we were going to get from the game were coming from Simon and his kicking. That was really good.”
Bradley confirmed boss Jones’ comments about the congratulations Sluga received after he’d soaked up the appreciation of the travelling Town fans, who also saw the point gained move them off the bottom of the Championship.
He said: “He got a round of applause, but we all had a round of applause between us, just for the level of performance and Simon Sluga came in late. I just thought he missed out on the applause, so let’s just give Simon one.
“That, possibly, could be a really big point come the end of the season when you look at how tight it is at the bottom. Simon has been brilliant and in the last nine games we just need him to be consistent for the next nine. That’s everyone, to be fair. That’s the full squad.
“We need it to be consistent. Simon needs to be consistent and he needs to play like that from now until the end of the season, to give us the best chance of staying up.”
