Kal Naismith says Luton must be more ruthless in front of goal when they host Barnsley tonight, but insists the quality is already within the squad as the Hatters look to respond to Saturday’s disappointing defeat at MK Dons.
Town captain Naismith believes Luton did enough to win at Stadium MK, where they registered 25 shots but found the target with only five, yet were left empty-handed after losing 2-1.
The defender said the team had created the pressure and opportunities they wanted but needed to improve the final part of their attacking play. With Barnsley visiting Kenilworth Road, he believes there has been time to learn from the defeat and put things right without trying to teach the players something they do not already possess.
Asked what Luton needed to do after losing to MK Dons, Naismith said: “I think we all need to stick together, have each other’s backs, so we need to be a team, but we’ve got a demand from each other.
“We had so many chances, so many chances in the box, to attack the box, and shots at goal. It’s there, but we just need to be a little bit more ruthless, and that comes for everyone, so we’ll keep pushing that, keep demanding that.
“The staff are never off our backs. The staff have been incredible and I just wanted to get that result [at MK Dons] and then the place would have been bouncing come Tuesday and we can kick on and get that consistency. It [was] not to be, but we will go again on Tuesday and we’ll find it.”
Naismith admitted that ruthlessness was difficult to define and teach, particularly when players were already desperate to score and win.
“I hear it said a lot in football, and it’s so hard to teach,” he said of the word ruthlessness, adding: “We work all week and the manager’s thought about how we attack the box, get numbers in the box and attacking the back post.
“For me, being there [at MK Dons], it felt like we had a lot of weight of pressure, a lot of chances and whether that’s just the ball just not falling a yard or two that way, or whether we’re not attacking the right areas, the manager and the staff look at that stuff constantly.
“We will analyse where we can do better, but yeah, it’s a word that gets said a lot, but what is the actual meaning behind it? Because I know the lads are desperate to score, they’re desperate to do well, they’re desperate to win so it’s a tough one.”
Luton’s captain felt the number of shots in Milton Keynes showed the team had done much of the hard work in creating opportunities, but said everyone had a responsibility to improve the quality of the final delivery and finish.
Noting the difference between having 25 shots but registering a fifth of those on target, he said: “The gap’s big and it’s that last little bit. It’s us as a team. I got forward quite a lot [on Saturday] and that final cross, that final bit, and it’s everyone, everyone needs to chip in.
“We need to sit and watch it [Dons defeat]. There’s been games this season where we’ve had a lot of possession and not really turned that into chances and we’ve spoken a lot about that about being ruthless.
“Why have we got possession? We want to create chances, and I feel that we’ve done that today. We just got to score. It’s the hardest thing in football, but we’ve got to score more.”
Despite the disappointment at MK Dons, Naismith believes Luton can respond quickly, with the squad already aware of what needs to improve.
Asked whether there was enough time between MK Dons on Saturday and Barnsley tonight to teach the team to be more ruthless, he said: “100 per cent. Not teach it. It’s there, it’s in us, we know it’s there. We just got to learn from it, refine it and we need to go again.”
Naismith also said the players would need to meet the expectations of the home support, who will be looking for an immediate response after the defeat, having booed players off at Stadium MK.
“I’ll speak to the lads that I think need to be spoken to, but we need to stick together. We know we’re going into an atmosphere where our fans will be demanding,” Naismith said of tonight’s test at Kenilworth Road.
“They’ll be wanting a response and [we must] step up. You play for a big club, with a big fan base, so step up. We’ve got each other, don’t worry, we’re there, it’s a football game, stick together. And all they [fans] want is that work-rate that intensity, that battling, the duels.
“They don’t want to see you skip by five or six players. Just do the basics really, really well and, Tuesday, that would be the message and they’ll get behind us.”
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