Bloomfield wants to give Hatters fans the 'bragging rights' against Hornets

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield is desperate for the Hatters to end their terrible away form at Vicarage Road on Sunday afternoon and give their supporters the ‘bragging rights’ against sworn enemies Watford.

Town will make the short trip to Hertfordshire as they look for a first win on their travels since September of last year, over five months ago, when beating Millwall 1-0 at The Den. Luton have played 14 matches outside of Bedfordshire after that, picking up just one meagre point, meaning there would be no better place to secure another precious three, at a venue in which the Hatters haven’t tasted success in the league since they triumphed 4-2 in September 1994, Scott Oakes, Kerry Dixon and Paul Telfer (2) on target in a new Division One clash.

Bloomfield said: “I’m really looking forward to the game, really looking forward to being involved in the occasion. It’s really exciting and we want to go there and continue the two performances we’ve had this week so far (against Sheffield United and Plymouth Argyle). I don’t think you really understand how fierce a derby is until you’re actually involved in it and when you’re actually in a football club. You can see from the outside of any derby but you feel it a lot more when you’re in it.

"I felt it this week, I understand what it stands for, for our supporters, and we would absolutely love to give them the bragging rights. We’ve got to approach it like a balanced game as we need to perform. We can’t be too emotional in the moment, we have to make sure that we’re calm and we perform to the levels that I think we have done the last two games and we believe that we can.

"It’s about understanding the situation, understanding what it means and what it stands for for our supporters and doing everything we possibly can. I know it’s a long time since we’ve won there, and even longer in the league, but we’re doing everything we can to give our supporters something to cheer on Sunday. I think emotion will be at the forefront of everybody. I’m sure it will be an intense atmosphere, an intense game and for us, we want to win on the road.

"We want to score some goals, we want to play on the front foot, we want to impose ourselves on the game, and we have to make sure we do that. The boys have been calm though. There’s no point being up two days before a game, it’s about being ready to go on Sunday but of course you notice that everyone’s been ready to go. The boys have been great since the minute we got through the door, they've been all-in in what we’re trying to do and all the meetings. The morning was no different, we debriefed Wednesday evening and we’ve started prepping for Sunday, so they've been great.”

Since Luton and Watford started playing each other again in the last few years, the home side has always won, with the opposition yet to even get a goal away from the confines of their own stadium. During the 2020-21 campaign, the Hornets triumphed 1-0, with Luton then doing the same through James Collins’ penalty, although Covid meant there were no fans present. Then after a 4-0 loss, the Hatters hit back with a 2-0 success on their way to the Premier League in the 2022-23 campaign, while this term, the 3-0 triumph at Kenilworth Road remains the only real bright point in what has been a largely woeful return to the second tier by Town.

With that in mind, Bloomfield knows they are in need of a far better away display than at Sunderland recently, where they produced a timid performance in their 2-0 loss, as he continued: “It’s facts, the home team has dominated this fixture for a number of years. Our away form hasn’t been to the degree where we want it, but it's up to us to change it. I’m really relishing it. I love my job, I love being involved in games such as this, and it’s something for us to really relish and cherish being involved in. We are really hopeful we can give our supporters something to cheer about.

“It’s two proud football clubs going up against each other, two teams who want the points for different reasons, so we’ll concentrate on ourselves and be ready to go. Being involved in football gives you these days and for our supporters and supporters of any club, it’s the derby you look forward to and it's a big build-up, great to be involved it in. I’m really looking forward to it and I'm really positive about the last two performances, and we want to take that into Sunday.”

As a player for Wycombe whom he served for almost two decades, then the only real derby matches Bloomfield had was against Oxford United. It won’t be anything like the passionate noise that will greet him from both sets of supporters this weekend, as he said: “Probably to a lesser degree (has he had derby matches) to the atmosphere that I’ll experience on Sunday.

"So some experience, not of this exact game and this derby but I think in any big game that you’re involved in, you understand the severity for the supporters, you understand how important it is for them, so I’m really looking to being involved in it on Sunday. We have to be balanced in what we’re trying to do though.

“We know that the strengths that Watford will bring and we know the weaknesses that we’re trying to expose. I think every team has both of those things and it’s about trying to identify them and building a gameplan that suits your group and you can go and implement. For me it’s about staying calm and making sure we go and perform, we can’t get the result without the performance so we have to make sure we go and perform.”

It is an encounter Bloomfield wishes he could swap the dug-out for the centre of midfield though, saying: “I would have loved to (play in it), I loved the big fixtures, loved the responsibility of heading into games like this. The fact that maybe the result hasn’t gone in our favour over a number of years, gives us something to really aim for and it’s something I’m really looking forward to achieve for our football club.”

Having made seven new signings in the transfer window, then bar Kal Naismith, who was at Kenilworth Road for the 1-0 victory under Nathan Jones back in April 2021, Town could go into the contest with a number of faces who might not have known just what this game means to supporters. That won’t be the case though, as Bloomfield added: “I think it’s really important that we as new staff members or players at this football club understand the history and the heritage of the club as you have to immerse yourself in the club.

"The club was here long before us and will be here long after us, that’s the most important thing to understand who you’re working for and who you’re representing. I think that’s really crucial. We’ve discussed it, the boys know what Sunday stands for for our supporters, it’s up to us to give everything we possibly can to give them the day they want.”