Kasey Palmer believes Luton Town have the quality to make an impact in League One but insists the Hatters must now turn their impressive 4-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers into a run of results.
Palmer scored a stunning goal to kick-start a return to winning ways in emphatic fashion at Adams Park. Jamie Donley also found the net in stunning style while there were tap-ins for Nahki Wells to continuing his strong scoring form and for Devante Cole to bag his first league goal for the club, making it three goals in three games for the striker.
The result provided a response to a disappointing run of form, which saw Luton lose twice before the three-week international break from league action. Palmer, who spent most of that time on duty with the Jamaican national team, said the players knew they needed to deliver after results – just two wins in the first seven games – had fallen short of expectations at the start of the campaign.
“I think we knew, coming into it, results haven’t been good enough this season, so it was about getting back on track and getting the three points, so that’s what we came in and focused on, and we’ve got the job done,” he told the BBC.
Palmer said the intensity Luton brought from the opening minutes had been a key part of the performance, with the team pressing high and forcing Wycombe into errors.
“We spoke about it in a week, building into it. It was about showing that intensity,” the 29-year-old said.
“We know we’ve got the players to do it, but it’s about delivering it on a Saturday, so we know if we work hard, people in the team have got ability to pop up with moments and we did that.”
The quality of the first two goals caught the eye, with Palmer and Donley both finding the top corner with spectacular finishes. But the midfielder was keen to stress that the result had been built on more than individual moments.
“To be fair, it was two good goals. But other than that, I think off the ball was a lot different today,” he said, having played in a more unusual left wing role.
“I think we really worked hard. We pressed high, we stuck to the game plan, which the gaffer wanted, and I think we executed it, Then we’ve had moments in the game, which are good quality for the goals, but the work create and the team performance was important.”
The win at Adams Park added to Town’s already Football League record-setting run of now never having lost there in 16 visits, with nine of those victories. It was an encouraging reminder of what Luton can produce when their pressing and attacking quality come together, but Palmer was conscious that one result would count for little if they can not follow it up on Saturday with a trip to Milton Keynes.
The Hatters enjoyed a strong finish to the previous campaign after a victory at Wycombe helped end a long run of winless away days amid a 12-game unbeaten end to the campaign, and Palmer knows the team need to find similar consistency this time around.
“I think we know we haven’t been good enough,” he said, adding: “To come in here, we knew we had to get a result and get back on track, and we’d done that. It’s only one game, isn’t it? So we need to know that we need to go to MK next week and do the same and go on a run now.”
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