Bloomfield admits it was a 'huge blow' to lose key defensive duo for Hornets clash
McGuinness and Naismith were both ruled out against Watford
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield admitted it was a ‘huge blow’ to be without influential defensive duo Mark McGuinness and Kal Naismith during Sunday’s massively disappointing 2-0 reverse at local rivals Watford.
Club record signing McGuinness had started all 31 league games since he arrived from Cardiff City in August, but having picked up a knee injury that saw him replaced in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle on Wednesday night, couldn’t continue that run at Vicarage Road. Meanwhile, Naismith, who did complete 90 minutes against the Pilgrims was also unavailable, with a tight hamstring given as his reason.
With the pair both not on the teamsheet when it was unveiled at 2pm, the sigh of disappointment from those Luton fans in Vicarage Road and watching on at home was palpable, as with Reece Burke, Teden Mengi and Daiki Hashioka also out, rather than change his formation, Bloomfield stuck to his three man defence, which meant their places went to Reuell Walters and Mads Andersen, who like the rest of their team-mates, had a bitterly tough opening 45 minutes.
Andersen in fact was taken off at the break having played his part in the Hornets’ opener, failing to shepherd the ball back through keeper Thomas Kaminski who brought down Mamadou Doumbia for a penalty that Tom Dele-Bashiru clinically converted. The Danish centre half was then booked for a needless shoulder barge on ex-Hatter Tom Ince, making way for January signing Christ Makosso at the break, the young defender going on to have an impressive debut in what was a losing cause during the second period.
With Walters looking out of his depth against Giorgi Chakvetadze, the Georgian attacker running the show and setting up the second goal as well, it led to a another thoroughly dispiriting trip to Hertfordshire for the Hatters fans, who saw their side failed to score for a third successive contest at the home of their biggest enemies. Discussing the duo missing out, Bloomfield said: “We knew from Wednesday’s game onwards that there was a risk of missing those two guys.
"We’re five central defenders down at the minute which isn’t easy, but we believed in the team we put out and we wanted to go and win the game, absolutely. Kal and Mark were fantastic in the last two games and to miss them was obviously a blow. Kal had a tight hamstring, we hope he’ll be right for Portsmouth next Saturday, but unfortunately he was unavailable for the game today. We lost Shandon (Baptiste) as well in the second half, Marv’s (Marvelous Nakamba) got a tight calf as well, coming off at half time, so we’re nursing a few injuries.”