Ryan Tunnicliffe believes that even though the Championship will be a step up in class for Luton, his new side won’t face many teams as good as Norwich City.
The Canaries dished out a 5-1 drubbing on Saturday in the Hatters’ final pre-season game before the season begins against Middlesbrough, under the Kenilworth Road lights on Friday.
Town were 2-0 down with six minutes at the weekend as City, who will be plying their trade in the Premier League this term, punished Luton with a display of clinical finishing, slick passing a high press that was gave them no respite.
Former Manchester United youth product Tunnicliffe has plied his trade in the Championship for much of his career, including the last years at Millwall.
After the Norwich defeat, he said: “I don’t think we’ll face many teams this season that will be quite as good as them. I played against them last year and they were excellent as well and that’s why they won the league. They’re a really good team and hopefully there’s not many teams that can move the ball and rotate as well as them.
“They’ve got a German manager and that’s the German mindset you see with Liverpool and Klopp. Obviously, they’re two different teams but that seems to be how the Germans tend to play.
“I think it’s in vital areas that you don’t have much time, obviously around their box it becomes compact and you have to move the ball quick, otherwise you won’t really create anything. So, we’ll have to get to grips with it. Today was a learning curve and I’m sure we’ll be better for it.
“It’s never nice to get beat but, bigger picture, it’s minutes under the belt. “They won the Championship last year, so we knew, going in, it was a very good team. It’s a step up in levels so this week we’ll have to prepare, dissect what’s happened today and get ready for Friday.”
