'Disappointed' Palmer holds his hands up for Boro's second goal in Luton's defeat at the Riverside

New Town keeper Alex Palmer held his hands up to apologise for the second goal he conceded during the Hatters’ 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

With Luton trailing 1-0 to Paddy McNair’s 17th minute penalty, any hopes of a grandstand finish were more or less ended when Duncan Watmore broke down the right and cut into the area.

When his first cross deflected back to him off Reece Burke, the Boro substitute then rifled goalwards, beating Palmer at his near post to make it 2-0.

It meant that Harry Cornick’s 10th of the season in stoppage time was a consolation, as when asked if felt he might have done better, the West Bromwich Albion stopper, who had only signed an emergency loan the day before, said: “I’ll be the first one to hold my hands up.

"I’m disappointed with it, I let the lads down, but you've got to move on as footballers.

"It’s part of being a goalkeeper, you've got to move on quickly, you can’t dwell on the past, we need to get our chins up and go again Tuesday (against Coventry).

“They saw out the game well afterwards, I think they managed the whole second half pretty well.

"We just couldn't get up to speed, we had some chances, but just fell short."

After a quiet opening 15 minutes, Palmer was hoping to be the hero once Burke had tripped Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun in the box, only to see ex-Manchester United youngster McNair send him the wrong way from the spot.

He continued: We do our research but it's 50/50.

"It's just about trying to ready signals but it's part and parcel of being a goalie.,”

Following a frustrating first half, the Hatters made a brighter start to the second period, Elijah Adebayo denied twice by home stopper Joe Lumley, the Boro keeper also using his legs to save Cameron Jerome's towering header too.

Palmer felt the players knew they hadn't been at their best during the opening 45 minutes, adding: "We said at half time, 'slow start,' I’ve only been here for a while, but I’ve seen them play a few times and I know they’re an honest bunch.

"They work hard for each other and they’re horrible, they're nasty, get in peoples faces.

"I felt we just didn't do that enough today and get some momentum behind us.

"This (Boro) is a club that is having a lot of joy at the moment and on a good run, we had to come here and try to quieten the crowd, we didn't really do that first half.

“He’s made the saves, it would have changed the game, but when you see seven minutes added times, you think 'we need just one more opportunity,' but they saw out the game pretty well.

"I was disappointed with the two goals, but that’s football, we’ve got to move on and look forward to Tuesday."