Disappointed Krul knows FA Cup display must act as a reminder for the Hatters

​​Luton keeper Tim Krul felt Sunday’s FA Cup third round stalemate against Bolton Wanderers was a timely reminder that the Hatters can't afford to drop their levels in their battle to stay a Premier League side this season.

Despite making four changes on the day, Krul being one of them when replacing Thomas Kaminski between the posts, Town should have had more than enough to go through on the day albeit against a visiting Trotters side who are flying in League One this season.

They didn’t though, as it wasn’t until the second half that Luton really got going and began to dominate, Carlton Morris seeing a header well saved by Nathan Baxter, who also denied Andros Townsend from range as well, while Alfie Doughty hit the post in the closing stages and had a clear penalty turned down by referee Andrew Madley and VAR as well.

It means Town now face a replay at the Toughsheet Community Stadium next Tuesday evening, as Krul, who made his third appearance for the Hatters and ensured his side weren’t breached on the day themselves, said: “We’re disappointed that we couldn’t break them in the end. First half we didn’t really get out to what we can be doing. We’ve been on top, top level the last few weeks and we didn’t really start that well, but second half we came out flying and had more than enough to win it.

“Normally I’d be happy with a clean sheet but there’s a lot of disappointment that we didn’t get the win. It was a good second half for both sides, again a shame we just couldn’t get it over the line. We had a maybe a penalty shout that I heard the boys talk about after that they’ve seen in the replay, it is what it is, we have to take it on the chin.

“I thought it was from where I was and I’m 90 yards away. Everybody said it’s a pen in the changing room, so unfortunately the people behind VAR didn’t think so, but we should have done enough to not rely on that. Second half we were more in their half, we were pushing them as hard as we could, a lot of corners, a lot of crosses, hit the post, but that’s the cup. We’re all disappointed in the changing room.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win in the end, we did enough to go through the next round but that’s the FA Cup for you, you can’t be starting the game at 80 percent. We know we need to be 100 percent week in week out and we didn’t show that today. It’s a reminder that we can’t just take it easy in any game, we know we have to be at it from the start. I thought we had done enough, but that’s it, we’ve got a replay now.

That especially has to be the case when the Hatters are in Premier League action at fellow relegation rivals Burnley on Friday, as Krul knows they can’t afford another below par performance during the clash at Turf Moor, adding: “Those are the games we know we have to hit our targets, so I think it’s better that we weren’t quite at it and we know we need to do it on Friday night. We’ll recover well this week and come out flying on Friday.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”