Matty Pearson says Luton won’t put special emphasis on the relegation six-pointer against Stoke because they need prepare for every clash like it was final day of the season.
With 11 Championship games left, Town host fellow strugglers City on Saturday, knowing a win could close the gap to one point after their stunning 2-1 triumph over promotion-pushing Brentford on Tuesday.
That victory lifted Luton off the foot of the table, but they slipped back to the bottom again last night after former Hatters youth product Cauley Woodrow’s goal was enough for Barnsley to beat Hull.
Town are in a good vein of form, having won three of their last four, but they missed the chance to close the gap on Charlton last week, with a disappointing 3-1 defeat at The Valley.
And while many are billing Saturday’s clash against Stoke as hugely pivotal to Town’s chances of performing a great escape, Pearson is keeping a level head.
“It’s a tight league. We need to do our best in every game and prepare like it’s the last game of the season for however many games we’ve got,” the defender said.
“It’s just another game for us. I wouldn’t go too deep into how big a game it is for us. We go into every game trying to win it. It’s not like must win this one, or must win that one, even though, in hindsight, it probably is.
“We’ll just do our best on the pitch and hopefully that gets us over the line and gets us the win.
“Stoke are in a similar situation to us, they need wins as well, so it’s teed up for a good game.”
But after recent results, which have seen Town take 12 points from the last possible 21, Pearson says the Hatters have the bit between their teeth to preserve their Championship status.
“Every one of us in there (dressing room) believes we can do the job, with the aim to stay in this league,” said the centre half.
“We all believe it and we just need all the fans, literally everybody, we need everyone together believing we can do it. Belief can take you a long way.
“It’s getting to that stage of the season where you can see we all want to be here, and are trying to put in those performances to keep this club at this level.
“There is nerves, we’re feeling what the fans feel, exactly what they see is how we’re feeling.
“We’ve just got to be positive, even though we have conceded a goal, we need to be positive and get the game finished.
“You could see after the (Brentford) game how much it meant to us and I’m just thankful it finished 2-1.
“We need to get as many points as we can, no matter how we do it.
“We need to be fully focused on performing the best we can, getting as many points as we can and that’s the key for the upcoming games.”
