Luke Berry insists that Saturday’s Championship relegation six-pointer at Charlton won’t define Luton’s season but would be another big step towards safety if they can triumph at The Valley.
The midfielder returned to the starting line-up after two games at the weekend at Middlesbrough and was one of the stand-out performers, particularly in the first half, where he was involved in Ryan Tunnicliffe’s winner, getting a slight flick on Dan Potts’ cross.
That victory moved the Hatters to within four points of safety and, as their second successive 1-0 win on the spin, gave Town renewed hope of a great escape which, only seven days before had looked decidedly bleak.
Stoke City, on 34 points, are the team to catch, but Charlton are just two places and two points above the Potters, so a Hatters victory on Saturday would not only boost their own survival hopes, but also draw the Addicks further into danger.
“They’re around us. It’s not season-making, but it will be a real big win if we can get it,” said Berry.
The victory at the Riverside Stadium secured Town’s first points in 12 Championship away games and Berry hopes that’s a good sign for the run-in, saying: “It is a shame we haven’t won more but now we’re on a good little bit of form, we can kick on and really do well.”
Asked if back-to-back victories have given Luton any added belief that they can steer their way to safety, Berry said: “There has always been a belief since day one, it’s just a new league and we have had to learn quick, that’s the main thing.
“I think that now we’ve got Championship experience in the squad, I think you can see that (on Saturday) and the last few weeks where we’re not being naive. We know that we can’t step off at any moment.
“The manager was saying a few weeks ago when we played (Nottingham) Forest that he could feel there was a bit of a mindset change. We didn’t go there with any fear and I think since then, Cardiff, I know we lost, but it was a game we should have really won.
“Then (on Saturday) you can see that we’re going into games thinking we’re going to win. It’s little details, here and there. With two clean sheets in a row, that’s something we can build on.”
Asked what he thought triggered such a change, the 27-year-old said: “Maybe we were going into games a bit tentative and not sure what we were going into, but the manager could feel a different mindset.
“There’s no fear, we’ve played everyone now and all we need to do is believe in what we’re doing and it’ll be enough. Maybe in the last few weeks you’ve seen that. Everything’s tight, one or two goals, and it’s going our way at the moment.
“We knew in ourselves that we needed to do more, and we needed to understand that we can’t make these sloppy mistakes or we won’t get wins, but we looked like we’ve learned from it.”
Now, with sights set firmly on trying to further narrow the gap to safety, Saturday’s goalscorer Tunnicliffe said: “We have to win our own games, that’s all we can control. If we keep winning games or picking up points, we can’t really bother what’s around us. As long as we keep our end of the bargain, then that’s all we can control.”
