Bloomfield is relishing the final sprint for safety with Luton

​Luton boss Matt Bloomfield is relishing the final sprint to try and secure his side’s Championship status for another season as the Hatters begin their first of their final eight matches of the campaign when travelling to Hull City on Saturday.

With Town’s second tier status hanging in the balance, sitting four points from safety, they could give their hopes of staying up a massive boost with victory at the MKM Stadium, a result that would see them bring the Tigers right back into trouble themselves too. Following that, Luton have home games with Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers, Bristol City and Coventry City, plus huge trips to Stoke City and Derby County, ahead of a final day encounter at play-off hopefuls West Bromwich Albion to contend with.

After a disappointing goalless draw against Middlesbrough last time out, a match that Town should have won twice over, the Hatters then had a fortnight without a game due to the international break, which saw the likes of Thelo Aasgaard and Izzy Jones star when featuring for Norway and Guyana. Those who weren’t away with their countries were put through their paces at the Brache though, while also getting some time off to recharge their batteries, as on how the fortnight off has been for the squad who remained in Bedfordshire, Bloomfield said: “We’ve had some good time to work.

"Coming off the back of what we felt was a decent four game period before the international window, we’ve been training hard. The boys are in good spirits and we’re looking forward to the last sprint. It’s about refreshing our minds a little bit, getting ready for the run-in. This is the bit we love, this is why we’re involved in the game because we love football. We love being involved and we’re really looking forward to the last bit.”

Although ultimately left frustrated by the stalemate with Michael Carrick’s side last time out, there was plenty to like about the display that Town served up at Kenilworth Road, particularly in the first half. They created chance after chance, but unfortunately missed them all, Aasgaard fluffing his lines badly twice from close range, with Elijah Adebayo’s one-on-one saved by Mark Travers, the on-loan AFC Bournemouth stopper also denying Carlton Morris too.

Despite the missed opportunities, the overall outing pleased Bloomfield who insisted his players have also taken confidence from the way they performed on their way to making it seven points picked up from a possible 12 having beaten Portsmouth and Cardiff City previously. He continued: “If the feeling in the building and the noise in the building is anything to go by then they’re feeling good about themselves. The standard of training has been very good, we’re disappointed with a draw against a team that’s trying to get promoted, so I think that shows you where we’re at right now.

"We have to keep that belief and keep that relentless energy that we’ve got at the moment. We have to play with that and carry that into every game as they’re all so crucial right now and we understand that. The game against Middlesbrough and the ones previously, even Portsmouth and the away game at Cardiff. Winning that away game is great as that’s one thing we can move on from now and look towards Hull, and try and get another one.”

Having been in charge for 12 matches now, the way he witnessed Luton go about their attacking phases of play during the match with Boro was further evidence of just how Bloomfield, who was in charge of a prolific Wycombe side before taking the vacancy at Kenilworth Road, desires the Hatters to play. With two months on the training ground now in which to get his ideas across, the boss believes that those methods are finally starting to transfer on to the pitch, adding: “If you look at the last block of four games I think it looks more like a team we want it to look like, absolutely.

"It takes time, but the boys have trained incredibly hard. I’m all about repetition and structure and understanding within the team shape whether that’s in or out of possession, so it’s about going over and over and over and being relentless with our work. We know that if we keep being relentless and results start to come that there’ll be more.

"I think slowly but surely it’s starting to come through and the boys have been really good at taking that on board. We’ve been working incredibly hard on that and we believe in the work we’re trying to do. Those patterns are starting to come out and I thought we saw that against Middlesbrough. We have to take that belief as every game is going to look and feel different, we can’t just pretend every game is going to be like Middlesbrough, it’s not.

"Away at Hull is going to be completely different, so we have to take the good bits that we can implement again and be tactically astute and aware of what Hull bring. A different surface, a different away ground, a different team we’re playing against and we have to be aware of what they’re going to bring tactically and try to implement ourselves in the game.”