'Devastated' Naismith urges Luton to 'stick together' following Championship relegation

A ‘devastated’ on-loan defender Kal Naismith has urged the Hatters to ’stick together’ after ending his loan spell at Kenilworth Road with what was an embarrassing relegation back to League One at the weekend.

A final day debacle at West Bromwich Albion saw Luton beaten 5-3 by a Baggies side with nothing to play for, as Hull City’s 1-1 draw with Portsmouth saw the Tigers leapfrog Town and climb out the bottom three, the visitors dropping out of the division with Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City, becoming only the fourth team to suffer successive relegations from the Premier League to the third tier.

Naismith had surprisingly returned to Kenilworth Road for his second spell back in January after barely featuring at the Robins, as after making two cameos in the games with Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland, he was back into the starting XI for the 1-0 loss to Sheffield United. Immediately catching the eye, it was thought that the 33-year-old would be have a huge role to play in Town’s hopes of staying up, as he captained the next match, a 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle, only to see that all change when Luton went to Burnley, the defender sent off inside 20 minutes for two rash challenges.

In his absence at Cardiff City, Christ Makosso, Mark McGuinness and Amari’i Bell impressed in a 2-1 victory that ended the Hatters’ horrific run outside of Bedfordshire, as Naismith was unable to break back into the side, on the bench for the next five matches he was available for, getting just eight minutes of first team action in that time when featuring against Hull City.

He finally did get back into the team for the 1-0 victory at Derby County over Easter, featuring in a holding midfield role due to boss Matt Bloomfield stating he needed to get the former Scotland youth international into the side. Although he impressed greatly at Pride Park, Naismith had to sit out again during the 3-1 victory over his parent club Bristol City due to the terms of his loan arrangement, before getting the nod for the second 45 minutes against Coventry City, this time on the left of the back three.

Despite that and his quite obvious influence on the side, something that midfielder Jordan Clark highlighted, the experienced defender was bafflingly left on the bench for the finale at the Hawthorns on Saturday, brought on when Town were 5-2 behind with just six minutes left despite Amari’i Bell and Teden Mengi struggling massively on the left hand side from the opening minutes onwards, or even to play in front of the back three, Clark and Liam Walsh getting the nod.

With his loan spell now over, Naismith, who is out of contract at Ashton Gate this summer, and doesn’t appear to be returning despite the majority of Luton fans wanting him to, took to Instagram to writes: “Absolutely devastated! After fighting to get ourselves in a great position ultimately we fell short on the final day. I’m so grateful I got the chance to play for this special club again I loved every second and gave it my all. Thank you to the fans for welcoming me back with open arms. Stick together and come back stronger it’s the only way.”