Bradley: Luton are lucky to have on-loan Spurs defender Carter-Vickers

Defender impresses once more as Town shut out the Terriers
Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has been in excellent for since joining LutonDefender Cameron Carter-Vickers has been in excellent for since joining Luton
Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has been in excellent for since joining Luton

Town captain Sonny Bradley believes the Hatters are lucky to have on-loan Spurs defender Cameron Carter-Vickers in their ranks.

The 22-year-old USA international has been in superb form since arriving at Kenilworth Road from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, playing 13 times, with Hatters keeping four clean sheets in games he has started.

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He has partnered Bradley in the centre of defence since the season restarted last month, the only outfield player to not miss a minute of action, as on the impact of his team-mate, Bradley said: “Cam’s a great lad and a fantastic player to play with.

“He just knows what he’s doing, plenty of talking and I feel comfortable next to him.

“A little bit similar to Matty (Pearson) in the things he does, strong, great passing ability, but Cam’s been excellent.

“He’s come in, another player with a great attitude, a big future and right now we’re lucky to have him, and for the next three games we’re going to need him.”

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Both centre halves had fine games against Huddersfield Town on Friday night, with Bradley netting the opening goal, while the pair then kept 18-goal forward Karlan Grant quiet all evening.

It meant that Luton had their second shutout in six games since the Championship resumed, bouncing back impressively from the debacle of the 5-0 defeat to Reading.

Bradley continued: “Credit to us, if you take the Reading game out of it, which was bad that day, there’s no denying that, we’ve come back and we’ve been solid.

“We haven’t conceded many chances, let alone goals and we knew if we were on it defensively, if we stayed in our shape that we could possibly nullify their chances, and that’s what’s happened.

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“I’m really delighted that we got a clean sheet for the back and for Simon (Sluga).”

After shipping 66 goals in their opening 31 games, there were signs of a newfound solidity under previous boss Graeme Jones after keeping Sheffield Wednesday and then Middlesbrough out in consecutive games.

That has been carried on by Nathan Jones, with Town conceding just 13 in their last 12 matches combined, five of them coming in one game to Reading.

Although happy with their rearguard performances, Bradley was still annoyed they didn’t have another shut-out under their belts.

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He continued: “It’s that mentality, I think the Barnsley game (1-1 last Tuesday), it should have been a clean sheet.

“The goal’s scrappy, I don’t want to talk about the goal too much as I think the ref’s made a poor decision for a corner and all of a sudden, you can only defend so many corners, the ball’s come in, second phase and it’s the back of our net.

“We were really looking for a clean sheet that game and it wasn’t to be.

"To bounce back here, to come and get a clean sheet, we’ve said before the game, if we can keep a clean sheet, start the game well, and build the foundations, we know we’re going to get chances as we’ve got good attacking players in our team.

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"So if we stay solid, keep a clean sheet then we’ll win the game.

"That was the plan and we’ve executed that well.”

Meanwhile, boss Nathan Jones was also pleased to see a return to Town’s solid ways once more, with Luton letting in eight goals during his six matches.

He said: “You have to have a foundation.

"In League Two and this is not being disrespectful to anyone, we went after everyone, we felt we were better than everyone, and that’s not being arrogant in any way, we just felt we had that belief.

“It’s not the case in the Championship, it’s the side that was pretty much the same in League Two, now playing Championship.

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“So to get the level of performances and results that we’re getting, shows what a great group they are and I'm so proud of them.

“If you get a clean sheet it gives you a chance so it’s not just the defence, it’s everyone, the work-rate that goes into a performance at our level is phenomenal.”

Reflecting on yet another excellent defensive display on Friday, Jones added: “Apart from (Emile) Smith Rowe’s effort that goes past the post, I don't really think they troubled us in any way, shape or form, and that was a little lack of bravery from us, in terms of our position.

“But (Alex) Pritchard, fifteen million they paid for him, I worked with him at England and he's a wonderful player, one they paid big money for.

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“They've got Smith Rowe from Arsenal, a wonderful player, Karlan Grant, so the attacking options they had was just phenomenal.

“To limit them to what we did, shows what a wonderfully disciplined performance it was.

“I thought the midfield were excellent, considering you've got Jonathan Hogg who won the Championship, got promoted from this Championship, (Trevor) Chalobah, who’s a wonderful footballer, Smith Rowe, so that was a real battle in there, three for three and I thought we were excellent.

“We came out on top and I'm so delighted for them.”

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