Matty Pearson admitted conceding a losing goal to Cardiff deep into injury time was ‘the worst feeling ever’ and Luton need to fix the problem quickly.
The centre back had scored a towering header in the 86th minute which cancelled out Aden Flint’s opener and looked like it would earn Town a well-deserved point, until former Hatter Isaac Vassell scored on his Bluebirds debut, moments after coming off the bench.
The forward came close to returning to Kenilworth Road before the transfer window closed on Thursday, but there wasn’t a defender near him when he headed home.
Pearson said: “They’ve pushed more men forward and people end up picking up people they shouldn’t be. It’s last ditch stuff and stuff happens like that. It’s the worst feeling ever but we’ve got to get over it.
“Their game plan is to get that ball in the box at every opportunity, get the big lads up and cause havoc. We dealt with some of it really well, but if you don’t deal with it, they score. Us as defenders, we’ve got to be better.”
Town will be disappointed with Cardiff’s opener too, as it came from a deep free-kick and saw three City players queueing up to score, with Flint supplying the finish.
“We need to get to grips with it quick,” Pearson said, adding: “The first two games we’ve conceded twice from a set piece. As a defender, we all know what we need to do, it’s just frustrating and I’m gutted about how the result went.”
Luton dominated possession at the Cardiff City Stadium with 67 per cent of the ball, but it was the hosts that had the better chances and with the two they got in the second half, they took both.
Pearson said: “That’s what you see. You see the Liverpool game the other night. They were that clinical, Norwich were 3-0 down before they could say anything. That’s the levels, I think. They’re so clinical, those half chances are goals. We need to eliminate them having those chances.
“It’s not like we got absolutely battered by them. Obviously, they had a few chances, early doors. We’ll have to look back on it, see what the manager says and see where we can improve. That’s the route we’re going to take and I’m sure it’ll get better.”
For the second successive season, the centre back netted in Luton’s second league match. Last term, his debut goal for the club rescued a League One point against Sunderland, but it wasn’t to be another repeat in south Wales after he notched for the first time in the Championship.
“It’s always nice to score but it’s just so frustrating to concede how we did and not see the game out,” said Pearson, who has now scored in the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions in English football.
“A 1-1 draw away at Cardiff would’ve been a good result on paper, but we’ve lost the game and everyone’s down at the minute, but we’ll get back in, in the next few days and we’ll put it right.
“Our (defenders) job is to keep clean sheets, so it’s pros and cons, but you want to win games, first and foremost and we haven’t won a game yet. It’ll come and we all know exactly what we’ve got to do, and we’ll get it right.”
