Luton Town goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski has revealed that the team’s struggles to stop goals on the road this season have been taking a toll on him, even affecting his sleep.
The Belgian international will return to his former club Blackburn Rovers for the first time since making the switch last summer, having shipped 20 goals in six straight away defeats, and already surpassing their tally from the entire 2022-23 campaign in the same league.
Last time out, Kaminski picked the ball out of his net four times in the 4-2 defeat at Norwich City and when asked about the root cause of the team’s defensive vulnerabilities away from home, Kaminski said, “The solution is very simple, don’t concede, it’s very simple in my opinion and I’m trying.
“I’m also the one that doesn’t sleep from all these goals, but you have to pick yourselves up, see where you can do better, see where you can improve and make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s your life so you take it home. You try to learn from it, but you have to learn quick and at some point you need to stop learning and start doing and that’s the main message.
“You want to win games, everyone wants to win games and for us it’s very difficult at the moment, but momentum in football is a funny thing, look at Man City. They’ve been used to winning every game and now they are struggling a little bit, but eventually they will find a way to get out of that form.
“If you concede goals it’s not very good, you need to score more than the opposition which is a cliché so it’s a problem for us, but if I had a magic solution I would have used it and we would have solved the problem.”
While Kaminski has been a constant presence between the posts this season – missing only the match against Preston North End due to suspension – the same cannot be said for the defensive line in front of him.
Luton’s backline has been plagued by injuries, forcing frequent changes to their set-up and they’ll be without Teden Mengi (knee), Reece Burke (quad), Alfie Doughty (ankle), Reuell Walters (foot), Amari’i Bell (hamstring).
Addressing whether the team’s inconsistent defensive line-up has contributed to their issues, Kaminski acknowledged the challenges but insisted the team must adapt.
“In terms of consistency, it’s been tough, but unfortunately injuries are part of football and especially the way we want to win, it demands a lot of effort and demands a lot of work, so you’re going to get injured.
“I think in football, especially the Championship, there’s a lot of games, and the intensity is high, so naturally it’s going to happen. I don’t think the injuries we’ve got now, it’s unlucky really, but how can you prevent that?
“That’s my question. It’s not easy, but again, I think we’re at a level where that shouldn’t be a problem, so we have to demand from each other and the reason why the people are playing is that they should be performing.”
It will be a huge test to turn their away form around against a Rovers side that have won five on the bounce, with the last four all being 1-0 victories.
“It’s very frustrating, but we have to look at ourselves,” said Kaminski of Town’s troubles on the road.
“We have to do it. And everybody who’s, who’s criticising or who’s talking about us, they have every right to criticise. And, we can only agree with that.
“So, it’s up to us to make the performances and to play as good as we can. And it’s always dangerous to say in football where we should be or where we deserve to be. But ultimately, if you don’t do your job or if you don’t perform well, I don’t think you can look up to the table.”
Town will travel to Ewood Park off the back of a draw and a win at home to Swansea and Stoke, respectively, with the last-gasp 2-1 turnaround against the Potters a much-improved performance.
Speaking before that game, Kaminski said: “At home, we feel more confident, that’s for sure. Away we are trying to find the right formula to perform. But, ultimately, it’s about picking up points.”
He added: “We are trying to find a solution, but if we knew then we could solve it straight away. Sometimes it’s also a bit of momentum. Sometimes it’s a bit of luck that we need and how do you get that?
“Put your head down, work hard and try to change the situation and look at yourself and say, ‘I should do better this, I shouldn’t do better, or I should do more’. So that’s the only way forward.
“The confidence, I have to say, that it’s not as been very good recently, obviously because of the results. But that’s also in football, in life, I think it’s in general. If it’s not going well, your confidence is generally low, but you’ve always got the choice to work hard and to make it work.”
Kaminski moved to Rovers from Belgian side Anderlecht in 2020 and he made over 100 appearances for them before his switch to Luton last year where he’s also been an almost ever-present in Town’s goal.
“I’m looking forward to that because it’s a club where I still have a lot of friends and they are doing well,” said Kaminski of his return to Ewood Park. The main players, they’re still functioning well. Lewis Travis, Dom Hyam, obviously Tyrhys Dolan is still there and, the goalie coaches are still there.”
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