Mark McGuinness said Luton’s vital relegation victory at Derby County was built on “desire and character” as he led the Hatters in a resolute rearguard to earn 1-0 win.
It brought Town level on points with the Rams, but still in the Championship drop zone on goal difference ahead of two huge home games.
McGuinness played a pivotal role, first providing the assist for Millenic Alli’s early winner and then, when Luton were under the cosh for the entire second half, ensuring there was no way through.
The centre half managed 19 clearances, while his defensive partner Christ Makosso made 12, while goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski made a point blank save as Derby, who didn’t manage a shot on target in the first half, threw the kitchen sink at the Hatters.
But Town ensured the Rams came up short and McGuinness said: “It was all desire and character from the boys and it was always going to be. The pitch wasn’t amazing and it was always going to be a fight game.
“We knew we had to match them and we did and we actually came out on top. I felt like we deserved it. We were solid.”
The Hatters have a real shot at Championship survival largely because of an improvement in their defensive resilience.
“The team needs someone to be consistent and that’s what I’ve come here to do, and do my job. When balls come in the box, I just head them away.
“I enjoy that side. It’s part of my job and I think today it was just a magnet,” the Republic of Ireland international told the BBC.
But Luton have still only scored two goals in a game once during manager Matt Bloomfield’s three-month reign and in a dominant first half at Pride Park, they could have made the task easier.
“We need to probably put games to bed. I had a couple of opportunities to put it in. For us, it was just getting that goal and we’ve been solid in the last couple of games,” said McGuinness.
Town have lost just once in seven games, which is a stark contrast to the side that was shipping the second highest amount of goals in the league in the first half of the season under former manager Rob Edwards.
McGuinness said: “I’m sure there were a lot of things going on, at the start of the season, but that’s been and done now. We can only look forward. We’ve definitely got more of structure about us, we feel solid with a bit of consistency across the backline and we’ve picked up a few injuries but boys have come in and done well.”
After three big goal-line blocks including in his 19 clearances, McGuinness was named man of the match by Sky Sports and he enjoyed a moment with the travelling Hatters fans at Pride Park.
He said: “Those fans have travelled, they probably haven’t had the best time this year but it’s moments like that where we can all celebrate together. But it’s more just to get everyone together. We’ve got three games left now and that was a real vital game for us to put us in a good position now.”
Luton will now hope to build on their momentum when they head in to a home clash against play-off chasing Bristol City on Monday, knowing a victory could lift them out of the bottom three for the first time since mid-January.
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