Clark describes Luton's sensational Seagulls triumph as a real 'pinch me' moment

Luton midfielder Jordan Clark felt Tuesday night’s stunning 4-0 thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier league was a real ‘pinch me’ moment for both himself and the rest of the Town squad.

The 30-year-old was one of three changes made by boss Rob Edwards for the match against the Seagulls, after suspension ruled him out of Saturday’s FA Cup win over Everton, the Hatters going on simply blow their opponents away on the evening, leading 2-0 after just two minutes, Elijah Adebayo and Chiedozie Ogbene scoring. Adebayo then added his second in the closing stages of the first half, going on complete his maiden top flight hat-trick shortly after the break to seal a truly memorable evening for all those lucky enough to be present at Kenilworth Road.

It was the same for the players as well, Clark telling the club’s official website: “What a night, someone said on the bench it was like a pinch me moment! I did press before the game and they asked me something about what it’s like the difference between now and the start of the season and I just said we’re a miles better team now, a completely different team. So goes to show it, an unbelievable night, we’ve just got to enjoy these moments, because they don’t come round every week, especially in this league. So enjoy tonight, but then come in and focus on the next game.”

Clark had been injured when the Hatters travelled to the south coast on the opening day of the season, beaten 4-1 at the Amex Stadium, a game in which they faced 27 shots and only had 29 percent possession. It was a complete turnaround in Bedfordshire though, Luton snapping at the heels of their opponents from minute one to 90, as they could and maybe should have won by even more, such was their dominance. The midfielder, who was starting a first top flight game on home soil, continued: “The way we’ve been playing, the team have been improving every week, it’s just full credit to the staff and the lads who have bought into it.

"I’ve not played as much as I would like to, but even just watching the lads every week and how improved they are, possession based especially. One of the best teams in the world at keeping the ball and it was a tough night for them, they couldn’t get four or five passes as we pressed so well. We said we can do that to anyone here if we’ve done it to Arsenal, Man City this season, so we’ve just got to keep going now. It was nice to score a lot of goals, but three points, that was the main thing.”

Although Town managed four on the night, it was almost five, Clark himself tapping home following an effort from Carlton Morris that was parried by visiting keeper Jason Steele, wheeling away to celebrate what he had thought was a maiden strike in the highest tier of English football, only for the offside flag to then be raised. A VAR check confirmed the ex-Accrington winger’s leg was marginally offside in the build-up, as he said: “I was just hoping for the right side of VAR for once, gutting, but it’s just one of them, it’s not meant to be.

"The main thing is the three points because we’ve been saying all season how the performances have been improving but we’ve not been getting the points. So it’s just nice to have a performance and the three points which is massive, and get out of the bottom three which is where we need to be.”

The result means Luton are now on a run of just one defeat from eight matches in all competitions, a sequence that will be put to the test when travelling to Newcastle United on Saturday. On what the plan will be now, Clark added: “Hard work, back to basics before we play Newcastle, that will be a different test. We know how we play here (at home), we’ll try and take that into their place, but we’ve just got to be confident. We’ve just beaten Brighton 4-0, so why not got there and get another three points? Keep the confidence going, have a little run now, we’ve just got to keep confident and keeping working hard.”