Kazenga LuaLua revealed that a Christmas Day conversation with his cousin convinced him he was going to score against Fulham on Boxing Day – and he did.
The winger was at the centre of everything Luton did to attack the Cottagers, creating and scoring the first and putting on an individual display at Kenilworth Road similar to last term’s heroics, which made him a fan favourite.
LuaLua spent Christmas Day in London and he said: “The funny thing is I was with my cousin last night, because may family spent Christmas in Newcastle. I said to my cousin, ‘I need to score. I haven’t done a backflip for a long time. It would be so nice if I can get a goal tomorrow.’
“And he said, ‘you shouldn’t say you need to score, you’re going to score tomorrow’.
“I said, ‘you know what, you’re right, I’m going to score tomorrow’. It was nice to score and I enjoyed it.”
LuaLua rolled back the months to give Fulham’s full backs a torrid time as Town took the lead on three separate occaisions during the 3-3 draw.
“It’s my game to take the full back all the time. That’s the way I’ve grown up playing. It was nice to do that and I was enjoying myself, 100 per cent.
“I’ve always said, the team come first rather than your performance. It would have been nice to win, but we didn’t lost and we got a point against a team like Fulham. It’s positive.”
But the game did see LuaLua notch his second goal in 18 appearances this season, and it came courtesy of him and Collins putting pressure on Fulham defenders determined to play out from the back.
The tricky star said: “We’ve been working on it in training for the last two days. That’s what the gaffer wanted to do and it pays off.”
Remarkably, the game ended without a single card being brandished by referee Dean Whitestone, despite some persistent offences from the visitors.
LuaLua said: “I was surprised the ref didn’t give one of their players a yellow card, because I was getting kicked all the time. I don’t mind getting kicked. I like getting kicked, to be honest. I enjoyed getting kicked. If the full back wants to play like that against me, I don’t mind it. Bring it on, it’s fine.”
Luton should have claimed all three points once Cornick struck in the 94th minute – another success of the high press – but Bobby Decordova-Reid was on hand to convert a rebound to earn a draw.
LuaLua said: “It’s always disappointing when you’re winning 3-2 and you’ve got ten minutes left in the game, but it’s a tough league. You’ve got to play to the end, until the ref blows the whistle.
“It’s always disappointing, but at least we didn’t lose the game. That’s positive.”
