Bree insists no-one at Luton is 'surprised' by the Hatters lofty position after targeting play-offs ahead of the campaign

Defender admits players had challenged themselves to reach the top six this term
Town defender James BreeTown defender James Bree
Town defender James Bree

Defender James Bree insists that although the rest of the Championship might be shocked by Luton’s climb up to third in the table before the international break, it hasn’t come as a surprise to anyone within the Hatters camp due to their pre-season ambitions.

The full back's first goal of the season at Hull City on Saturday, a quite magnificent free kick that saw the visitors move out of sight at the MKM Stadium in a game they eventually won 3-1, pushed Town up to their lofty position.

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It's the first time they have been occupied third place this term, but rather than be taken aback by their efforts, Bree revealed it was something the squad had set themselves as a goal before the campaign began, saying: “Personally I don’t feel any pressure, I don’t think any of us do really.

“No-one expects us to be there apart from us.

“We always said at the start of the season, ‘let’s see what we can do, let’s see if we can do something,’ and I don’t think anyone’s surprised in there.

“It’s an unbelievable thing to be third, pushing to get promoted, but we’re not surprised.”

Second played Bournemouth are still in the Hatters’ sights, but with the Cherries six points ahead and with two games in hand, Bree knows a top six berth remains the main aim.

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He continued: "It’s unbelievable what we’re doing at the minute.

"We’re just trying to get our heads down and see what we can do in the last eight games.

"If we keep churning out wins and performances like that, you never know what could happen.

"Play-offs is obviously the goal, autos is probably a little bit of a stretch, but you never know what can happen in this league.

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"If we just keep going out, performing well, winning games, take as many points as possible, we’ll be in a really good place towards the end of the season.”

Bree himself was playing in a different role at the Tigers on Saturday, as with a number of defensive injuries, he dropped back to fill in at right-sided centre half, carrying on where he had finished the previous 4-0 victory over Preston North End.

The switch didn't bother the full back though, who revealed he had adopted such a position in the earlier stages of his career, saying: “It’s quite nice, I’ve played centre half a lot when I was coming up in the youth teams and when I was at Aston Villa, that was mainly here I played, centre back, right of a three, so I’m used to the position.

"It takes a little bit of chance, you’re not bombing on, getting forward, it’s more defensive duties and sometimes it can be frustrating as you don't really get on the ball.

"I like to get on the ball and play, but absolutely delighted with the way we’ve been playing and all we need to do is get the three points.”