Belgian international sets private clean sheets target as he aims for an instant top flight return with Luton

Town keeper Thomas Kaminski has set himself a private clean sheets target for the upcoming Championship campaign as he hopes it will lead to an instant promotion back to the Premier League with Luton.

The 31-year-old only managed two shut-outs last term, one coming in the 1-0 success over Newcastle United, the other coming during Luton’s 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on what was undoubtedly their best night of top flight action all campaign. However, that was that, Town conceding 85 goals in total as they fell out of the top flight along with Sheffield United and tonight’s opponents Burnley.

Prior to joining Luton, Kaminski had managed nine clean sheets from 28 Championship matches for Blackburn Rovers in the 2022-23 campaign and 13 from 45 the season before that. He would love to register another one when facing the Clarets this evening, as speaking to the club's official website about his aims, he said: "You have to achieve them as a team and if you can achieve that as a team, the personal ones, they follow. Winning as many games as we can, what comes to mind is the clean sheets. I’ve put a number on it, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else, but I’ve put a number on it, what I want to achieve and it’s similar terms with the team.”

Despite having to pick the ball out of his net far more times than he would have wanted, Kaminski's wonderful individual performances for the Hatters didn't go unnoticed, the Belgian international named Players’ Player of the Season. He also won the Premier League's 2023/24 Castrol Save of the Season award as well, handed the honour at the Brache in front of his team-mates recently.

Although happy to win the prize, Kaminski wants the chance to be in the running again next year by climbing out of the Championship at the first attempt, as he continued: "It was nice, it's always nice to get a trophy. I was very happy with it, but you want to go back as soon as possible with Luton to the Premier League.

"We're all talking about getting back as soon as possible, but we know the Championship is not an easy league. It is going to be a challenge, 46 games is a lot of games, but we want to do it. We have our ambitions, the club has their ambitions, we want to take on the challenge.”

After a summer away at the Euros with his country, Kaminski did get some valuable minutes under his belt when playing against Dundee United and Celta Vigo during Town’s pre-season friendlies. The keeper found himself lining up behind a hugely patched up defence for both matches, with Amari’i Bell, Mads Andersen, Daiki Hashioka and Reece Burke still all absent.

New signing Reuell Walters could be part of Town’s defence this evening, the ex-Arsenal youngster one of only two signings along with former Brentford midfielder Shandon Baptiste, with teenager Joe Johnson possibly getting his full Championship debut as well. Kaminski doesn’t expect to be giving any extra guidance to those less experienced members of the team though, saying: “It’s not really that I have to help them, it’s mainly in the coaching, but they know what to do because of the way we play.

"They are doing well and I’ll try to support them in every way, but I’m not going to put more attention on the younger boys than the other ones. They are exciting players, Reu is still a bit younger, but he’s done well I think and he’s showing us that he’s got a lot of quality. The same with Shandon. He’s a top player in his position and he’s someone we can definitely use in the team.”

When Town travelled to Burnley last term in the Premier League, Kaminski was subject to plenty of stick from the home supporters due to his past at Ewood Park, the Hatters grabbing an injury time point when Carlton Morris headed home following a collision between home keeper James Trafford and Elijah Adebayo. Playing in Bedfordshire first up could prove crucial though, as Kaminski added: “I don’t think they’ve lost many players as well, so it’s going to be a tough game.

"I think they will also remember last season when we played them, but it’s going to be a tough test from the start for us. It’s basically still a Premier League team because they haven’t lost many players. It’s a big test for us, it’s going to be a challenge but it’s a great game to start with. It’s the best really for us. It’s our home, we've been well supported last season, well supported at away games and it’s always a plus if you can play at home on your first game.”