Luton manager Rob Edwards promised his Hatters will get better but that they shot themselves in the foot during a heavy defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion on their Premier League debut.
Town were 1-0 down at the break thanks to a Solly March header despite a promising opening where there were five debutants and a history-making appearance for Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, who became the first-ever man to play in all five top English divisions with the same club. However, the midfielder’s mistake effectively killed Town as Simon Adingra capitalised to make it 3-1.
A soft penalty had seen seen former Watford forward and Brighton’s record signing Joao Pedro double their lead lead and though Carlton Morris scored Luton’s first-ever Premier League goal from the spot, in what could also be seen as a debatable decision, Albion were ruthless.
That slim hope of a recovery lasted only four minutes, while Evan Ferguson scored deep into stoppage time.
“Brighton are a top side,” said Edwards with a failing voice. “We won’t get much more of a difficult test than today, so I think we can take a lot of confidence from it.
“Not every game is going to be like that. We have to be very disciplined, but we’ve got to learn and we’ve got to learn quickly.
“We’re going to get better. It’s still a new group of players, we’ve got some more to come into the group, so we’re going to get better. I am proud but I don’t like losing. We’re not used to losing either, so it’s not something we want to make a habit out of.
“We have to accept it. Brighton are a top side and they deserved to win, I want to make that clear. We’ll improve from this.”
Edwards added: “At 2-1 we were right in the game. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot for the third goal, gifted them a goal. There were two mistakes. We should’ve cleared the ball initially and had two opportunities to do that.
“At 3-1, the game’s really difficult for us. At this level, teams smell blood and they’ll go forward quickly. We got punished a fourth time.”
Brighton showed why they qualified for the Europa League last term, with their highest-ever top-flight finish and Edwards said: “I think it’s a learning opportunity for us. We recognise how good they are. We respect that. Roberto’s a top coach, top manager and they’ve got some excellent players and play a really complicated way. We’re going to get better from this moment.”
Though the scoreline didn’t tell the true tale of the test, Brighton were deserved winners.
“I think it shows the ruthless side of the Premier League,” said Edwards, adding: “I’m proud of the boys, but we’re not good losers. I don’t want to pat ourselves on the back, say we competed for large spells of the game, but say we’re happy to come and lose. We’re not.”
So many reasons to not be too disappointed!
1. Lockyer is still getting up to fitness. When he is he will be much better.
2. Same for Anderson (I think centre of the 3 might be his best position though). Then we’ve got Burke and Potts to get fit too. Bell looked ok in the main. But centre back is probably where we need another body.
3. Kaminski looked pretty good. As the defence improves, he’s going to do even better.
4. The whole squad had a disrupted pre season. From starting it late due to the play off win, to having to play all games away due to the ground. They’ve 2 weeks now to continue a pre season of sorts and hope to be a bit sharper come Chelsea.
5. Brighton are a great side and clearly not in our mini league. It was a shot to nothing. Points against them probably won’t determine our season. They will be chasing Europe again. We’re hoping for 17th best.
6. Edwards was bold once we went down. It worked until the mistakes.
7. We’ve scored a goal! One monkey off our backs!
8. Morris looked good! Giles grew into it. Chong and Kabore looked handfuls in attack (if not always solid at the back).
9. We don’t have to visit many grounds less easily accessible than the Amex again this season! Man that’s a pain to get to and much worse to get away from 11:15 I got in – over 6 hours after the final whistle and no trips to pubs thrown in. Nice ground. But it needs to be lifted and moved 4 miles closer into town. Or much better and regular trains and buses need to be put on. But yes trespassers and over time band won’t have helped. I’ve no problem with the RMT though!
10. Whatever happens this season, there will always be next year! That wasn’t always a given pre 2020.
COYH’s!