Rusty Palmer, injury woes and haunted by ghost of Wembley past – 4 talking points from Middlesbrough 2 Luton 1

Luton Town saw their three-match winning run come to an end with a tame 2-1 loss at Middlesbrough on Saturday. Here are our takeaways from the game.

1. Room for improvement but let’s not condemn Palmer just yet

News broke on Friday evening that Nathan Jones had added West Bromwich Albion stopper Alex Palmer on an emergency loan deal due to the injuries picked up by Jed Steer and James Shea.

I think it is fair to say we saw why Jones likes players to bed in during training before they get thrown into the first-team squad because, while there is undoubted quality in him – you don’t play for England at any level if there isn’t – he understandably looked a little rusty. His kicking was in and out and he’ll have been disappointed to have been beaten at his near post for the second goal.

You might think this makes his inclusion over Harry Isted harsh but the emergency loan rules insist the temporary keeper must start, much to the misfortune of Isted who was resigned to a role back on the bench on his 25th birthday.

2. Injuries beginning to bite hard

When Jones made a number of changes to his side for the 3-2 loss against Chelsea on Wednesday night, he did so both to rest those who were carrying knocks and also to ensure those who needed minutes in a competitive environment got them. That might prove to be a masterstroke as the Town picked up three more injuries at the Riverside.

The Hatters were already without James Shea, Jed Steer, Sonny Bradley, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and Fred Onyedinma and saw Gabe Osho, Kal Naismith and Allan Campbell exit the Riverside playing arena early with injuries. With the Town running to a tight budget and a small squad these injuries are going to test them with four games ahead in the next two weeks.

3. Ghost of Wembley past haunts Luton again

Whenever the name Jeremy Simpson appears on a team sheet as the referee the mind immediately goes back to Wembley in 2012 as he is the man who officiated the Blue Square Premier play-off final between the Hatters and York City.

We all know the impact the officials had on that match but any hopes of an increase in standards were unfounded. In fact, on this evidence he has gotten worse and it was all the more noticeable after the immaculate display offered up by top-flight referee Peter Bankes against Chelsea on Wednesday.

On that occasion the arbiter overlooked the simple indiscretions and the game was all the better for it. Here every time someone went down a free kick was given. There was no flow to the game. The depths of despair came to the fore in the second period when Simpson adjudged a clear foul on Amari’i Bell as a free kick to Middlesbrough while his assistant awarded the home side a corner when the ball went out a good five yards away from the corner flag for what should have been a throw in. In keeping with 2012, the assistant failed to spot Duncan Watmore in an offside position before he struck to put the game beyond Luton. Let’s hope that’s the last we see of Simpson and friends for a while.

4. Disappointing result but outcomes elsewhere keep Hatters in the hunt

While there is no getting away from the fact that this loss to play-off rivals was less than ideal, results elsewhere went with Luton. Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest dropped points when they drew with each other on Friday evening while QPR, Blackburn and Coventry City were all beaten  on Saturday.

With Sheffield United hosting Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening, should Luton prevail at Coventry on the same night they will move above the losers of that showdown or both of them if there is a stalemate at Bramall Lane. So, while this defeat was unwanted, the Town are still in a fantastic position if they respond to this loss in the fashion we have become accustomed to them doing.