Luton Town manager Matt Bloomfield insists his side are heading to the Stadium of Light tonight with confidence, despite history and form being stacked against them.
The Hatters have not won away at Sunderland in 52 years, while their hosts boast an unbeaten home record this season. However, fresh from ending a 12-game away-day losing streak with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, Luton are eager to defy expectations and pull off a statement victory against the promotion-chasing Black Cats.
When informed of Luton’s long-standing winless run at Sunderland, Bloomfield’s response was defiant: “I didn’t know that. There’s never a better time than now. Records are there to be broken, right?”
He added: “The expectation’s on them to go and beat us because of where they are in the league. That’s everyone’s expecting us to get beat. But we believe in what we’re doing. We’re working hard and we’re we’ve got a good point and we’re at Sheffield Wednesday and we believe in what we’re trying to do. So it’s going to be a tough game, of course, but we absolutely believe in ourselves.”
The manager has had 11 days since that draw at Hillsborough to drill his side into one that can pull away from the Championship relegation zone, where they sit second from bottom and three points plus goal difference from safety, after Derby picked up a point against Oxford last night.
But Bloomfield, now with eight new recruits at his disposal, says he’s seen progress on the training pitch and has emphasised the importance of belief while remaining grounded in reality.
“If you don’t believe you can do it, you’re never going to go and achieve anything,” the 40-year-old said of their relegation fight, adding: “The belief is amongst the group. We have to balance that off with the realism of where we are, because we can’t be blinded by that.
“We have to be full of belief, but understanding of where the season’s at, and that’s the balance you have to make any time. Whether you’re looking to get promoted, you have to understand the realism of the situation, but be optimistic.
“And, equally, we have to understand where we are. But we have [to be] full of belief and I need to reiterate, this has been a great few weeks for us, and we’ve got some tough games coming up, but we’ve got a block of games that we’re really going after — and it starts in Sunderland.”
The recent improvements have been encouraging, without securing a first win of Bloomfield’s reign, though the avoidance of equalling the club’s worst ever run of 13 away defeats is something of a foundation in a season that has fallen significantly below the expected pre-season promotion chase.
But Bloomfield is determined to use this as a foundation to build momentum, knowing that every point is crucial to avoid Luton being cut adrift at the bottom of the league table.
He said: “We don’t wanna get caught drift. But also nothing’s going to be won and lost and decided in the next day or two. But we absolutely have high hopes of where our season’s going to take us, and we have to be putting that on the pitch.
“There was, I think, five defeats in a row before we came and we got a draw the first game. No clean sheets since November. Ticked that one off. No point on the road for 12 games. So we have to be pleased with the work we’re doing, but go after more because I want to be winning games and that’s what we want to be doing here.”
The Hatters’ resolve will be severely tested against a Sunderland side that has turned the Stadium of Light into a fortress. Not only have the Black Cats avoided defeat at home this season, but they also possess one of the most potent attacking line-ups in the division.
Bloomfield acknowledged the challenge ahead, saying: “They’ve got real good attacking threats — pace and intensity in their play. Any good team has goal threats all over the pitch, and Sunderland have that.”
The key for Luton will be in organisation and discipline. Their newfound resolve on their travels will need to be at their best to withstand Sunderland’s relentless attacking pressure. However, Bloomfield also believes his team can exploit gaps in Sunderland’s defence.
“We believe we can cause them problems. If we can do what we believe we can do, then we’re looking forward to this game,” said the manager, who added the attacking prospects of Millenic Alli, Thelo Aasgaard, Josh Bowler and Lasse Nordås, in the transfer window. The latter, a transfer deadline day, signing from an off-season Tromsø, will be on the bench tonight.
The odds may be against Luton, but Bloomfield’s men are determined to rip up the script. With belief, inspired by their last away-day and an active January transfer window which brought attacking improvements, they head to the Stadium of Light knowing that a win would not only be a massive boost to their season but would also break a curse that has existed for far longer than Bloomfield has been alive.
As he put it: “There’s never a better time than now.”
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