Kal Naismith says he does not feel any added pressure now that Luton have broken into the Championship play-off places.
A first hat-trick of victories since Town returned to the second tier saw them break into the top six last weekend and tomorrow they travel to fellow play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough aiming to cement their place.
After that, Town play Coventry and Queens Park Rangers who are all in with a shout of the end-of-season shake-up and boss Nathan Jones has labelled their last 13 matches as “season defining”.
While everyone outside of Luton views the club as a surprise package, because they’ve got one of the smallest budgets in the division, Naismith and the players believe they are right on track.
Asked if there’s any added pressure now that Town are in the top six and to be shot at, by the likes of Boro, who sit two points and two places adrift, Naismith said: “I don’t feel it.
“The goal remains the same. We want to keep winning games. We know what we want to do. We know we’re one of the top sides, even when we were outside the top six.
“We’ve played all these teams and we know we’re one of the top teams when we perform to our level.
“It’s just about us, staying on it, training hard every day and trying to improve every day. I don’t think it changes, where we are in the league.
“We’ve got another big game and we’ll ty to get as many points on the board as we can.”
Naismith revealed earlier this week that it was manager Jones that made him believe he was a top Championship defender after a career being labelled as a utility player.
Having found his best position, the Scot has been a part of 14 of Luton’s 16 clean sheets in all competitions this term.
Naismith said: “It gives me massive confidence, the fact that we have been so good, defensively. The players that I’m playing with are a pleasure to play with and the goalkeeper behind.
“We have been good defensively, but I say this constantly to the lads when I speak to the boys before games, it doesn’t just come from the defenders.
“We’ve got one of the best front-footed records for going after teams. Elijah (Adebayo), if he plays up there, Hylts (Danny Hylton), Cameron (Jerome), Corns (Harry Cornick), how much they go after teams and stop opposition midfielder getting into good areas and being able to hurt us. It’s a massive team effort.”
Cornick got back on the goal trail after five appearances without scoring, when notched wonderfully taken effort against European and World Club Cup champions Chelsea in Wednesday’s 3-2 FA Cup defeat. While Hylton has hit two in two in the league, and Jerome has begun finding the net too.
Adebayo took a knock against Derby and missed the Chelsea cup excitement, but he’s expected to be available for the trip to Middlesbrough, who he scored against in a 3-1 win at Kenilworth Road back in November.
Naismith said: “We’ve got so many players that can impact a game, so many good players. You look at our bench and it’s scary, even lads that haven’t been featuring as much at the minute.
“But, for me, seeing Hylts and Cameron and how much they’ve affected games in the last month, is huge because that, more than anything, just sums up where we are as a club.
“How close the changing room is, the fact that these players haven’t featured as much as they’d have liked. They want to play every game but their attitudes are just top class.
“They work as hard as anyone and then they come in and make a massive impact. The last month shows where we’re at as a squad. It shows the other lads, who maybe haven’t impacted yet, or played the minutes they would’ve liked, that if they keep working the way these lads have done – Hylts is 33 and Cameron is 35 – that they’re going to impact the last few months of the season.
“I think it’s massive for the squad and I’m delighted for Cam and Hylts. It tells you how close knit we are.”
