Ex-Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester City keeper believes Kaminski could be the difference between Luton staying up or not

Former Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa goalkeeper David James believes that Town number one Thomas Kaminski could be the difference between the Hatters staying in the Premier League or being relegated back to the Championship this season.

The 53-year-old, who is a boyhood Hatters fan, enjoyed a distinguished career that saw him make 572 top flight appearances, the most by any goalkeeper, also winning 53 caps for England too.

Having been at a number of Luton matches in a punditry role this term already then James is in a good position to judge the Belgian who moved to Kenilworth Road from Blackburn Rovers in August, and currently sits currently eighth in the Premier League for saves made, with 35 already.

Kaminski added another three to his tally at Aston Villa on Saturday, his first a terrific double stop from England forward Ollie Watkins, who was picked out by an offside looking Matty Cash just eight yards from goal.

With the net looking like it was destined to bulge, Kaminski made a a stunning full length stop to prevent it from doing so, and also was up to push the loose ball away too.

Beaten by John McGinn after a clever free kick routine, the summer addition then spread himself impressively to deny Nicolo Zaniolo from close range as the Hatters swapped ends just 1-0 down.

Speaking to the Athletic, James said: “With Kaminski I like what I see.

"He is a very capable goalkeeper and given the right coaching he could arguably be the difference between Luton going down or staying up.

“Even though he is performing at a high level, he has had very little hope with the goals he has been conceding.

“He’s made some fantastic saves and I hope he stays positive because having been in relegation battles before, it is so easy to lose that positivity.”

Kaminski was beaten twice more in the second period, the first when Lucas Digne’s arcing left-wing cross was headed back by Leon Bailey for an unmarked Moussa Diaby to score.

He then had to pick the ball out of his net when a long ball from Boubacar Kamara saw Diaby get the better of Teden Mengi, Town’s stopper narrowing the angle only to see centre half Tom Lockyer turn the ball into his own net from close range.

James didn’t think the 31-year-old was at fault for either, adding: “Observe, decide and react is what we used to talk about.

“You see the cross, you make a decision on what you are going to do with it and then the third thing is you react.

“The reaction might be to come out and take it or to stay.

"He’s made the right reaction to go back, the hope then is it’s dealt with in the middle by the defenders.

“Again, I don’t think that’s (third goal) a mistake.

"The issue for Luton at the moment is they are conceding a lot of goals and hopefully in time their defenders will get to the speed of the opposition.

"Situations like this simply show Aston Villa’s strike force is at a higher quality than Luton’s defending.

"And unfortunately for Kaminski, he’s the guy who is behind it all.”