The clamour for new recruits and prayers for the return of key injured defenders will only grow after Luton lost 4-1 on Championship opening night, with boss Rob Edwards admitting Burnley’s goals preyed on Town’s “vulnerabilities”.
A year ago in their first-ever Premier League opener at Brighton, defeat by the same result was a baptism of fire, greeted with an historic novelty factor. But at home to Burnley – who finished below the Hatters, though both got relegated – it felt like the Clarets were still a top-flight side.
The Hatters haven’t beaten Burnley in nine matches now and they were never convincingly in this contest from the moment Josh Brownhill opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
That goal itself, highlighted what a patched together side Rob Edwards was forced to field. Midfielder Jordan Clark was left to watch from the stands and that meant two full debuts for academy products Joe Johnson, 18, and Zack Nelson, 19.
Their inclusion, and a competitive debut for 19-year-old new signing Reuell Walters, made it the youngest Luton side Edwards had ever selected, by some distance. But, though Edwards praised the trio, they will likely be bows to forget because of the manner of the reverse.
When Nelson was caught out with a long ball, Brownhill was clinical. Burnley then repeated the trick on the other young academy graduate when Connor Roberts bypassed Johnson with an inch-perfect long ball that Wilson Odobert raced onto, slotting past Thomas Kaminski.
At half-time, Scott Parker’s side had two shots and bagged them both. But it was more than just ruthless finishing that the Hatters suffered from. For 45 minutes, they were stifled in almost every area, managing just Town four touches in the visitors’ penalty area.
“Those are our vulnerabilities. I’ll say that openly,” Edwards said of the goals, after Dara O’Shea and Vitinho completed the scoreline.
“We’ve got to be able to deal with that better. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, and I want to be honest, so there were things there that I really liked and things that were disappointing. Clearly, the goals were disappointing.”
Before disappointments three and four, came the pleasing parts. From the restart, Elijah Adebayo beat keeper James Trafford to a rare cross but saw his header hit the crossbar.
And when Alfie Doughty nodded into the path of Tahith Chong to score after Town’s best ten minutes, it seemed game on. Briefly.
“I saw lots of good things especially in the first 20 minutes of the second half,” Edwards told Sky Sports, adding: “There was not much in the game in the first half, but we concede from two poor moments from us, and obviously, the scoreline affects everyone’s emotions. Two-one, we’re right in the game. The third one was the killer.
“There was an injury and a bit of a drinks break around the time we they were 2-1 up. We had a bit of momentum and (we’re) playing really, really well.
“The third goal, look, we’ve got to deal with the corner better, there’s no doubt about that. I felt there was a foul in the build-up on Shandon Baptiste that led to corner, he got pulled back when we’d just taken control, but that’s no excuse.”
That was because the scorer of that killer goal was O’Shea who, despite his aerial prowess, was worryingly free to head home a corner on 72 minutes.
Soon after Vitinho put the game to bed. Again the Clarets went from back to front in lightning fashion. This time it wasn’t a long ball, but Lyle Foster who won the ball on the edge of his own area and ran unhindered to the edge of Luton’s. There he laid off to the Brazilian who lashed in off the outstretched boot of Kaminski.
In truth, had it not been for the Belgian keeper and the woodwork, this could have been a seven-goal humbling.
Yet, it’s no time to panic for Town. They remain drastically depleted in defence. And though Amari’i Bell was afforded a place on the bench, the Jamaican centre half is thought to be a few weeks away from a return. Reece Burke and Mads Andersen will follow and boss Edwards has repeatedly stated that his side will get stronger as players return.
The manager has also been frustrated in the transfer market and the focus and scrutiny on the ever-closing window will be pulled sharper into focus due to the comprehensiveness of this opening nightmare.
But until deals can be done, Edwards must focus on the players he has to hand and those set to come back from injury. Their returns can’t come soon enough.
The manager said: “The supporters won’t be happy, but they’ve got to appreciate that we’re going to improve in the coming weeks.”
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