Luton boss Matt Bloomfield insists the belief is still there among his players that they can end their away-day pain and avoid relegation, but has called tonight’s basement battle at Cardiff a “big game” rather than a must-win match.
The second-from-bottom Hatters are effectively six points from Championship safety due to goal difference, with the Bluebirds the team to catch.
Town beat City at Kenilworth Road earlier in the season, but though they’ve lost their last three in all competitions, the Welsh side have bagged four victories since the turn of the year. Two of them were against relegation rivals Hull and Derby, and there was also a shock win at promotion-chasing Sheffield United.
That has helped Cardiff pull away from the bottom three, while Bloomfield has only enjoyed one victory since taking the Hatters hotseat in mid-January, with the Hatters only winning away once this term – and that was back in September.
Saturday saw Luton’s losing run on the road extend to three games, with a 4-0 reverse at Burnley after being reduced to ten men in the 19th minute. For the manager, that’s meant four defeats in five away days.
“I think we can read a lot into it or go look for the facts and I’ve analysed what I’m seeing and I believe that the belief is still there,” said Bloomfield.
‘The boys have taken on the game plans, they’re implementing that, [but] results haven’t been in our favour and we have to change that. Obviously, we have to change that between now and the end of the season, because we need results to do what we want to do. So, yeah, it’s a big game and my belief is that we can go win.”
Town have just ten games to save their season, but after failing to beat bottom-of-the-league Plymouth last month, many fans view tonight’s night’s trip to Cardiff as do-or-die.
“It’s big game,” said Bloomfield when asked if Luton are in must-win territory.
“It’d be silly to sit here and say it’s not. It’s a big game and we’re doing everything we can to go and win.
“We’ll be positive. We’ll be we’ll be ready to go. The boys recovered. I’m looking forward to the game. It’s a big game, and we’ve got to be ready to go and perform.”
Town need will need to turn around their travelling fortunes against a City side that, until the visit of Burnley last week, had not lost on home soil in 2025.
“[Their] home form has been decent so it’s a tough assignment for us, but we’ll be hitting it with positivity and we’ll be ready to go. It’s a big game. We’ll be at it,” said Bloomfield.
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