Calm Hatters boss refuses to put any extra pressure on Town's players ahead of Burton trip

Town boss Matt Bloomfield was determined to remain calm and not put any extra pressure on his players ahead of this afternoon’s trip to Burton Albion.

Having lost two out of their last three League One matches, the Hatters, who were picked as the clear favourites for the title by the majority of bookies this term dropped to 11th in the table. In a bid to turn that around, they now head to a Brewers team who they are hugely tipped to pick up three points against, as low as 8/11 with league sponsors SkyBet.

With no game next weekend due to their trip to Blackpool being postponed due to international call-ups, then there is a real feel that Town need to get a victory just to kickstart themselves into action once more before returning to league action when hosting Plymouth Argyle on September 13. However, upping the ante on the 90 minutes at the Pirelli Stadium wasn’t something Bloomfield was looking to do at this stage of the campaign, saying: “There’s no need for us to add anything to our situation.

"We just need to keep clear minds, go and perform, be the best we can possibly be and just keep calm in the situation. There’s going to be times where we’re really flying this season, going to be times where we’re punched on the nose like we were on Saturday. We need to stay calm, we need to go about our work and be absolutely motivated to put our best performance out there on Saturday.

“It’s a really competitive tough league with some really big clubs in it, so our situation is no different to anyone else’s. We’re trying to prepare and get through the window the best we can, come out as strong as we can the other side and enter what is going to be a really long season. Nothing’s decided yet, we’ve had a couple of good days, a couple of not so good days and every season is the same in that regard, there are some good days, some bad days, and there’s a lot of work to be going after.

“Every game is worth exactly the same attention, every game is going to be extremely tough for us, but we have to concentrate on the work that’s important, what we do, the way we conduct ourselves, because no-one else is going to alter that. We have to be very motivated and disciplined in our work and we will continue to do so.

“Winning football matches is difficult, in any league, in any scenario, in any environment, winning football matches is extremely difficult, and we respect this league because it’s where we’re working, it’s where we’re at. I’ve lived my life here, a lot of my years have been spent in this league and I know how tough it is, so there’s pressure on every situation for varying different reasons and ours is no different.

“We prepare for every game exactly the same, analyse our opposition, be aware of their threats, but back ourselves to try and impose and influence our gameplan on the game, so absolutely nothing will change in that regard. The way we prepare for any team in this league will be exactly the same but Burton will be another tough game for us and we will prepare properly and we’ll look forward to it.”

The Brewers themselves who stayed up by a point last term, thanks to a wonderful second half of the season, having looked dead and buried at the turn of the year, began their new campaign well too, beating Mansfield Town 2-1 on home soil. Since they then have taken just one point from their last three games though, that in a goalless draw against Port Vale, although the Brewers have led in both their defeats against Stockport County and Barnsley, conceding another late goal to go out of the Carabao Cup against Lincoln City in midweek too.

Led by former Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Salford City boss Gary Bower, they will still represent a stern test though, especially on home soil, as Bloomfield added. “They had a very good second half of last season and have taken a bit of that momentum through. They’ll feel really disappointed not to have got the three points at Stockport last weekend from being ahead, but they have a really experienced manager, they’ve got some really good players, well organised, really hard working, absolutely know their jobs and we’re in for a tough afternoon.

"I think the forward Jake Beesley has been around the level for a number of years, he’s always a threat, left wingback Seb Revan is a boy I like, he’s a good player too. In midfield they’re competitive, I think (JJ) McKiernan, he was good at Morecambe a couple of years ago, it didn’t quite happen for him at Lincoln but he’s a good performer at the levels. So they’ve got some good players and apart from them, they’re really well organised, work extremely hard and we have to match that on Saturday.”