Injuries and illness will force Matt Bloomfield into changes for tomorrow’s crunch clash against Doncaster Rovers as the Luton manager explained his thinking around the much-maligned back three formation and how it might change.
The Hatters boss admitted it had been “been a very challenging week” after the backlash from Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Lincoln, but he also welcomed the support of chief executive Gary Sweet, who told fans last night in a rare interview that he wants the manager to succeed while also warning results must improve.
The CEO was quizzed on Bloomfield’s formation, saying the Hatters have the players that can suit a back four, though the manager has largely deployed three centre halves and two wingbacks.
Bloomfield hasn’t always had the personnel to fit in those roles and, most recently, at Lincoln, Nigel Lonwijk, a centre back, was used as a wing-back. But the Dutchman will not feature tomorrow against Rovers after injuring his ankle at Sincil Bank and playing on through the pain.
Left back Cohen Bramall faces a late wait to see if he’s overcome an illness, having done an individual session in training this morning.
That could influence Bloomfield’s thinking on his backline, with the manager conceding that last week at Lincoln, a three at the back was, “wrong because we lost a game.”
The 41-year-old came to Kenilworth Road in January from Wycombe Wanderers where he was mounting a promotion push in League One with a 4-3-3 formation and he has said previously that he wants his Hatters side to get to a back four, but that a three had suited the players he had available.
Explaining his philosophy, Bloomfield said: “I got this job by playing four at the back. Two points and two goals a game, we averaged. My first game here for the first four or five games we played four at the back.
“The first game in pre-season at Borehamwood, in the first half, we played four at the back. It’s where I want to get to, absolutely it’s where I want to get to.
“We discussed going to it in the last international break and then we went to Burton and scored three. We played Barnet on the Tuesday night scored four. So would it have been the right time to change then?
“It’s where I want to get to. We didn’t have enough wingers in the building in pre-season to get there, so we stuck with the three and we’re slowly trying to get to that point. It’s our end goal. And I think all the evidence would suggest it was always going to be.”
Asked what the steps would be for him to get to a back four, the manager explained further: “Alfie Doughty, in my opinion, was one of the best wingbacks in the Championship, let alone League One. [He] didn’t leave till the start of the season.
“Izzy Jones was one of the best wingbacks in the Championship last year, got a stress fracture in his back. Milli [Alli] was here pre-season, but Gideon [Kodua] didn’t come till late. Shayden [Morris] came deadline day, so therefore we had one winger.
“We felt the way we want to play, with four at the back, you need to have pace out wide. We didn’t feel we had that. So that was the first point. We didn’t have enough wingers in the building to go and play in the manner that we felt that we could play.”
Have addressed the winger situation in the transfer window, he said he has had time to work towards his preferred formation.
Regardless, Bloomfield will have to make changes throughout the team as Jordan Clark has been ruled out, as has Jerry Yates. In midfield that will see Lamine Fanne and Jake Richards come into his thinking.
“Jerry Yates is concussed. Clicker’s had a slight issue with his calf,” the Town boss confirmed, adding: “Cohen Bramall’s ill, but he’s just done an individual session on his own, so we hope he may be available. So, yeah, we’ve lost a couple.
“Cohen may be fit. He’s just gone outside and, he wasn’t allowed in the group this morning, but he’s gone and done an individual session, COVID type style out on his own, you know, when we had to train on our own in COVID. If he can come through that, he can be available for the match day squad tomorrow.”
He added: “Every one of our fit and available players will be in the squad tomorrow.”
On his week, since the Lincoln slump, Bloomfield said: “We’ve been planning, we’ve been preparing, and we expect an entirely different performance tomorrow against Doncaster.”
