Clark vows written off Luton can still prove people wrong and stay in the Premier League

Luton midfielder Jordan Clark insists he and his team-mates still retain the belief they can prove all the nay-sayers wrong and achieve Premier League survival this season, despite their thoroughly humiliating 5-1 defeat against Brentford at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

The Hatters, who were made relegation favourites long before the campaign began back in August, wasted a massive opportunity to climb out of the relegation zone at the weekend, hammered by the Bees in front of their own supporters. A ninth loss in 13 top flight matches and a second successive reverse by the same scoreline, meant Town stayed in the bottom three, the gap to safety remaining a single point after Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 at Everton on Sunday.

Although the Toffees appear to have secured their top flight status for another year now, having beaten arch-rivals Liverpool 2-0 last night to move eight points above Luton, with Sheffield United beaten 4-2 at Manchester United, it means realistically that three teams are battling to avoid the final two relegation berths, second bottom Burnley also in with a shout, just four adrift of Forest.

Speaking to the club’s official Twitter page, a defiant Clark believes the Hatters can finish above the dotted line, even if others don’t, as he said: “We were written off from the start of the season, we’ve had that tag all season, so obviously they’ll probably write us off even more after this, and the Man City game last week.

"Conceding a lot of goals in two games is not good, but that’s what we do, Luton Town, we prove a lot of people wrong and we’ve still got the full belief in there, in each other and as a squad. That was a bit of a kick in the backside, but we’ve just got to be men now and step up. We know the games are getting shorter and shorter, next week is so important now and we need three points.”

The long-serving midfielder was left as bemused as anyone as to why Town turned in such a below-par performance at the weekend as they were handed their first real hammering on home soil in the highest tier of English football this term, the Bees looking a class above throughout the 90 minutes. It led to a period of soul-searching for the Hatters, as Clark continued: “We were very low, it was a tough loss to take.

"We built this game up so big all week but we were just second best all over the pitch. Full credit to Brentford, they were a well-oiled machine and did the basics really well. They’ve got some quality players, but we weren’t good enough as a team and sorry to the fans who were amazing as always. We’ve got to dust ourselves down now and go again next week.

"It’s one of them, we’ve got to look in the mirror as an individual player, every single one of us in the changing room has got to go home and look at what they could have done better. The effort’s pretty much always there, we were just second best and that’s not like us. We’re usually front-footed and high pressing and do the basics really well, second balls, we just weren’t. I can’t put my finger on why, we just have to watch it back and have a hard conversation with everyone, put some things right and just need to not dwell on it and go again next week.”

The midfielder did admit there were some harsh words aired between the players after the contest too, as he said: “A few lads spoke and got stuff off their chest. What happened and what they said in the changing room stays in the changing room, but you’ve got to look at yourself first and foremost. We know we weren’t good enough as a team.

"We knew how big this game was, to get the three points to get out of the relegation zone, it wasn’t to be. We’ll have a hard conversation with everyone and put some things right. We need to not dwell on it and go again next week. We know we weren’t good enough as a team. It’s a really tough one to take as we’ve got to be men, we’ve got to bounce back.”

Luton now have four matches left in which to try and save their top flight status, starting at a depleted Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, Gary O’Neil’s team without a win at six, taking two points from a possible 18, without a goal in their last two matches as well. Following Wolves, the Hatters also have to play Everton, West Ham and Fulham, as Clark knows how big the trip to Molineux has become, adding: “We’ve got four games now, four massive, massive games, even bigger games. So we look forward to Wolves as we need a performance and a result now.”