Gideon Kodua promised that there’s “much more to come” from Luton after he came off the bench to bag an early birthday present from the penalty spot to seal a dramatic 2-2 comeback draw in the last minute at Blackpool on Tuesday.
The Hatters had trailed 2-0 at Bloomfield Road before Jordan Clark’s 78th minute deflected strike pulled one back, setting the stage for Kodua to earn and convert a stoppage-time spot-kick. It was the first time Town had comeback from two goals down to take something from the game since October 21 2023, when the finished with the same score at Nottingham Forest.
But in this League One clash, Kodua, who joined on loan from West Ham in the summer and turns 21 today, described the equaliser as a special moment for both him and the team.
“I was saying to myself before [coming on], ‘let me just get a present for my birthday’. Got one,” he told LTFC+, adding: “I think you can see from the team’s celebration at the end, what it means to us. But there’s just so much more to come. We weren’t coming out of here without a point or win. It was a good moment for me.”
Asked about taking responsibility for the decisive penalty, Kodua explained it was instinctive rather than pre-planned.
“It’s in the moment,” he said, adding: “This is the second pen I’ve won. So I was just thinking, OK, I’m playing well, let me take the pen. I feel confident and I put it in.”
The substitute had already gone close with a long-range strike before his late heroics, and said he was encouraged by the way Luton finished the match, despite a disappointing start and falling behind to two CJ Hamilton strikes.
“I played well, but as I said, there’s more to come, not just from me but from the team. When we start playing like that for the whole game, we can see how dangerous we are. We just need to keep ticking boxes and just trust each other more. Just keep playing, the wins will come.”
Kodua also spoke about his adaptability across the frontline, having largely been used on the right side, recently replacing Shayden Morris. But at Bloomfield Road, he replaced Milli Alli on the left.
“I practice either side because you never know which side you’re going to come on. I’ve been working on both sides, so either side just feels natural for me. So if you tell me to go on the left or right, I’ll do my best to try and get a goal assist.”
Kodua now has two goals for the Hatters and is the club’s second top scorer so far this season behind Clark, who started that comeback, and now he’ll be hoping to play a more prominent role at Stevenage on Saturday.
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