Jordan Clark says that Luton need to believe in themselves more after playing Swansea “off the pitch” but going down 1-0.
The versatile midfielder turned wingback was in impressive form again on Saturday as Town gifted City a sloppy goal in the third minute, but then created a plethora of chances without scoring.
It was the 16th time this term that the Hatters have failed to hit the net in the league, though the dominance of their performance was very encouraging against a Swansea side that moved into a Championship automatic promotion spot for a brief spell after the Kenilworth Road clash.
“We’ve got to believe in ourselves a bit more. We’re a good side,” said Clark. “They’re second in the league and we’ve played them off the pitch. Probably, one thing that’s let us down this season is scoring goals. It’s the most important thing in football, so it’s disappointing in the end.”
Clark is Luton’s joint top scorer this season with three goals, which highlights Town’s troubles, though they sit in 16th place, 12 points clear of the drop zone.
Only four teams in the Championship have scored less that Luton’s 28 for the season and Clark said: of their latest blank, “We played really well, to be fair, but if you don’t score goals you don’t win games. I think it’s been a factor of the season to be honest. As far as performance goes, we were fantastic, but it’s just that final third and being clinical which was missing.”
Clark missed two chances, with a shot in the first half that went wide and misjudging a header when well placed.
“It’s obviously unlucky but you at least got to make the keeper work,” he said of the first half shot, adding: “We said before the game, ‘if you get shots, make sure you hit the target’. Although it was close it was disappointing because you’ve got to make the keeper work.
“Even the header at the end, I got a little nick on it but if I got more of a contact on it, it probably finds the bottom corner. It’s unlucky but it’s tough to take because we played so well, it’s just a little bit of quality missing from the final third.”
