‘What we’re doing here is exceptional,’ says Kioso after Luton get play-off push back on track

Peter Kioso believes that the things Luton Town are achieving are this season are “exceptional” as they moved back into the Championship play-off mix with last night’s 4-0 win over Preston. 

The full-back finished the match in the heart of defence after an early injury to Town’s only available recognised centre half, Reece Burke, and following pre-game injuries to Kal Naismith and Tom Lockyer, while club captain Sonny Bradley has been out since January. 

But, despite Luton’s makeshift backline, which included Dan Potts as skipper, they earned their 16th clean sheet of the league campaign, the highest in the division. 

After a controversial 2-1 defeat to QPR on Sunday, victory saw them leap back over the Rs in the Championship table and into fifth place with a game in hand on Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield above them. 

“What we’re doing here is exceptional – the boys, the club, everything,” said Kioso, adding: “Nobody would expect it, but when we sit in that changing room and I look at the players and the mentality that everybody has, I’m not surprised. We work hard every day, put shifts in every day and we’re reaping the rewards.

“It’s coming to the crunch time now. Into the last nine games of the season and this is where certain teams might start picking up form. 

“We need to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re doing is working. We’re a hard-working team, if we stay in and around it, then we need to see what happens, but we’re on the right track.”

For 27 minutes, Kioso had been credited with Luton’s second goal, after he and Fred Onyedinma both appeared to convert James Bree’s free-kick. 

The defender celebrated as if he’d got the final touch, but he admitted afterwards that he was just trying his luck.  

Kioso said: “You have to be honest sometimes. That’s Fred’s goal. I don’t want to lie, he was getting on to me in there (changing room), but I love Fred deep down, so I have to be honest, he did touch it. 

“But, at the end of the day, if you don’t try, you don’t get. 

“The knee slide was because I was just so happy for Fred. I knew it wasn’t my goal. I was just sliding away because Fred didn’t celebrate, so I thought, let me celebrate for him to help him out.”

But in an impressive personal performance the former Hartlepool full back came close to opening his Hatters account two more times, though he said: 

“I was trying to get a goal, but I’m not worried about that. At the end of the day, a clean sheet and the three points is the most important thing. 

“It’s not an original starting 11 that maybe even the gaffer would want, but he knows if he asks anybody to do a job, they’ll do it. 

“It shows that with the illnesses and injuries that we have, to put in the performance that we have, I think that’s very good for the boys. 

“The back of the net and me are friends. We’re not that bad, but that’s always a bonus. I wouldn’t say I go into a game looking to score a goal. 

“For me, as a defender a clean sheet is the most important thing. Then, when you get a clean sheet, you can always win the game.”