Edwards confident on-loan Nottingham Forest keeper Horvath will get over his clanger against Millwall

Town stopper embarrassed by Lions forward Flemming
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Luton boss Rob Edwards is confident that keeper Ethan Horvath will get over his clanger against Millwall at Kenilworth Road last night.

The on-loan Nottingham Forest international, who hadn’t been beaten from open play in the seven games prior to the contest, looked to be extending that run past the 11-hour mark when, with four minutes on the clock, Zian Flemming’s shot from the edge of the box was straight at him.

However, it somehow squirmed through his gloves and bounced over the line to give the Lions an early lead, which they extended early in the second half through Tom Bradshaw.

Town fought back to earn a point through Elijah Adebayo and Luke Berry’s late leveller, but going back to the error from Horvath, Edwards said: “You don’t get to the position that he's in in life to not deal with a setback.

“It’s the life of a goalkeeper, they're human beings, there’s going to be an error at times and you've just got to switch off and he did that in the game then.

“We’ll all support him as we support everyone of our lads.

“He’s mentally tough, he’s been brilliant, so for me, the goal counts, of course it does, but it was the bit before that I’ll really look at and focus on, they shouldn't be getting the opportunity in the first place.

Ethan Horvath is beaten by Zian Flemming's shot during last night's 2-2 draw with MillwallEthan Horvath is beaten by Zian Flemming's shot during last night's 2-2 draw with Millwall
Ethan Horvath is beaten by Zian Flemming's shot during last night's 2-2 draw with Millwall

“We didn’t get the first bit right and I’m disappointed with that bit, the mistake is a mistake and that’s human error, no problem with that, Ethan’s been outstanding for us.”

What Edwards was more annoyed with was the ease at which the ball got to Flemming as keeper George Long’s massive clearance was nodded into his path by Bradshaw for the forward to unleash an attempt on goal.

When asked if that led to the contest being far more open than he had anticipated, both sides looking to cement their places in the top six of the Championship, Edwards continued: “We should have dealt with the first and the second ball better, and we went through that in great detail, so that’s disappointing.

“But then four moments, four goals in the game, we should have had a penalty as well.

"I don’t know if it was that open, they sort of did what we expected them to, they’re really comfortable but good in that mid-block, which allowed us a bit more of the ball.

"We had to be brave, we had to take it, and we had to try and play a little bit of a different way to some of the games we’ve had recently.

"But full credit to the lads, they found a way and in football you’ve got to solve problems and Millwall are very good at setting you certain problems and it’s difficult to break that down.

“When I went to watch them live against Burnley the other week, Burnley got a point and had a lot of possession, but ultimately only one goal, so to score two against them after being 2-0 down I’m seeing that as a real positive.”

Edwards was also eager to praise his players for the manner in which they fought back from going a goal down so early on, and then falling 2-0 behind in the second period as well, adding: “I thought we played really well, I do, I thought there was some really good football up until that final bit again and I know that’s always the hardest bit.

"There were a few that flashed across and we didn’t quite get on the end of it, we huffed and puffed, but I thought the actual build and getting to a point was very, very good.

“The response to the setback was great, but you'd expect that from our lads.

"They've got strong character and they've shown a lot of resilience already this season, that was never in doubt, so I was pleased with the response.”