Bloomfield insists Leeds' decision to drop Meslier won't change anything for the Hatters

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield didn’t think the news that Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has decided to drop goalkeeper Illan Meslier for his side’s trip to Kenilworth Road tomorrow has changed anything for his side.

The Whites chief announced he was making the call in his pre-match press conference on Thursday following yet another error from the former French U21 international during last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Swansea City. With his side leading 1-0, Meslier dropped a corner allowing Harry Darling to stab home, while late on, he was beaten by Zan Vipotnik’s angled drive that flew into the bottom corner to steal a point for the Swans.

Ex-Newcastle and Nottingham Forest stopper Karl Darlow will now take his place having been handed a first league start for the club since December 2023, as asked about the news being made public prior to kick-off, Bloomfield said: “It probably stops him being asked about him all week, so I can understand why he’s done it. Obviously we had the speculation this end, what would happen and we now know the answer, but also for his boys it’s given them clear heads to go and do the same.

"It doesn’t really change anything for us as Leeds are a fantastic football club with an international goalkeeper to come in as second choice, so we know that they’ve got a team full of very good players and they will give us a real stern test. We know that it’s a real tough ask for us, but our gameplan is clear, our opposition is fairly clear now and we’re ready to go.”

At 34 and with over 250 senior outings to his name, Darlow represents a more than capable replacement for Meslier, as he is also the current Wales number one, playing in their last five internationals, with clean sheets against Montenegro and Turkiye. Bloomfield didn’t think it would have a huge bearing on how Luton approach the contest either, adding: “No, he’s very experienced, the Wales number one and he’s been playing games for them so that’s fine, that’s absolutely fine.

"We know the task we face tomorrow afternoon and we’re prepared for that and we’re ready to go. Irrespective of who’s playing in goal for Leeds there would have been questions around it because of the amount of scrutiny that they’ve been under this season. He’s an extremely experienced goalkeeper who’s played at the level for a number of years and the level above, so I’m sure he’ll be ready to come in. But it’s about us playing in the way we want to play and creating chances, so if we can do that, then we believe we can win the game.”

With seven games of the season to go, Leeds have started to falter ever so slightly in their attempts to return to the top flight, something that also occurred last term, going into the game on the back of just one win in five matches, although only losing once, at Portsmouth, in that sequence. They are still second in the table, but now level on points with Burnley in third, as they could drop out of the two if they fail to secure victory at Kenilworth Road.

Boss Farke is clearly confident that won’t be the case though, stating he was 100 percent convinced they would win promotion, but asked if Town would try and play on pressure their visitors might be feeling, Bloomfield added: “The manager has come out and said he believes they’ll be playing Premier League football next year so the belief is obviously there from him for his players, which is fine.

"It’s about concentrating on us, what happens in our opposition’s camp is their business, that’s up to them. He’s a really experienced manager who’s managed in the league for a number of years, so he knows how to get out of the league, but we’re about concentrating on ourselves. We believe we’re in a good spot and we want that to continue.”