Harry Cornick says Luton can put right the defeat on their last trip to Cardiff, but believes the Carabao Cup second round clash is more about building a winning mentality.
Town travel to the Welsh capital this evening, just 17 days after seeing hopes of a hard fought Championship point stolen away from them at the death with a header from former striker Isaac Vassell on his Bluebirds debut.
But the Hatters go to Cardiff on a high after claiming their first victory of the league campaign at the weekend with an impressive 3-1 win at fellow promoted side Barnsley.
Cornick completed Luton’s scoring in the 31st minute after Jacob Butterfield and James Collins had put the 2-0 up after four minutes.
And the forward knows that it’s important to maintain the feelgood factor when facing Cardiff again.
“It’s massive to keep this run going,” said Cornick, adding: “We go away to Cardiff in the Carabao. It’s a good competition, it’s good to get a win, try to progress and we went there last time, last minute and were unlucky not to get a result there, so we can go there and put that right.”
Asked whether it will be seen as a quick chance for revenge, Cornick said: “I guess so. It’s important about getting this (winning) run going, getting the confidence going. If we lose there the confidence can die down, so we need to go there, keep our tails up and keep winning.
“That’s the winning mentality and I think that’s what we did so well last year to get promoted. We had the winning mentality every game. We were going into it trying to win, which was brilliant, so let’s keep that going, I guess.”
LuaLua wasn’t even in the squad, the last time Town played City, but he has been getting more minutes, beginning with a 45-minute outing in the League Cup and featuring in every match since.
He said: “I watched the game against Cardiff and the boys were playing very, very well, but it was a 96-minute game and you need to be focused all the time.
“The first wins always give you a confidence boost. We got that (against Barnsley) and we need to push on for the next game. We’ve got Cardiff on Tuesday and then Huddersfield, but Cardiff is what we need to focus on now.”
Manager Graeme Jones said: “I need to assess the group and see where we are. We need to be competitive in every game. We’re not going to Cardiff to make it easy for Cardiff.
“We haven’t come this far to slacken off, I don’t care what the competition is, I want to be competitive, that’s the first thing.
“How we’re competitive, I don’t know yet. I’ll have to see how people are with bumps and bruises, but I’m looking forward to the game.
“It was only two weeks ago that we went there, so we’ll see if we’ve adapted.
“I think we have grown in every game. Obviously, the proof is in the pudding, but we’ll find out on Tuesday. I know these boys will give everything they’ve got. They’ll go into the game mentally, physically and tactically prepared and we’ll see where that takes us”
