Extra work paying off as LuaLua opens his account at Craven Cottage

Town boss Graeme Jones was happy to see his work with Kazenga LuaLua pay off after the attacker notched his first goal of the season against Fulham last night.
Kazenga LuaLua scores in stoppage time at Craven Cottage last nightKazenga LuaLua scores in stoppage time at Craven Cottage last night
Kazenga LuaLua scores in stoppage time at Craven Cottage last night

With time running out and the Hatters trailing 3-1, LuaLua arrived at the back post to slide home Luke Bolton's cross from close range, netting a first Championship strike since February 2017, when he was on target for QPR in a 2-1 defeat at Preston.

Jones said: “We speak about contact a lot, getting the balance of his body right, getting a good contact on the ball and that's what he did.

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"But he’s in the right area for that position, and that’s why he scored.

"We’ve been working with Kazenga getting in on the back post, shutting that back door, for six weeks now.

"We've seen a little improvement in the international break, that’s where the goal came from tonight, that was understanding, it's progress.

"So there was lots of aspects I was pleased with, but I want a positive result.”

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LuaLua was on for the final 12 minutes with Callum McManaman, as Harry Cornick and leading scorer James Collins were replaced.

On the decision to take off the latter, Jones continued: “James is a warrior, he had some sore muscles going into the game, so I didn’t want to take any chances.

"But obviously we’re still in the game as well, I just wanted to change it a little bit trying to get Izzy (Brown) on it, Callum and Kaz.”

Jones was impressed to see his side remain on the front foot despite falling 2-0 behind early in the second half too, as they came close to leaving Craven Cottage with a point.

He added: “That’s our DNA, that's what we do.

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"Many sides would have just sat back then and thought 'I don’t want to take a beating here.'

"We had a right go, I’ve got no complaints, we just wanted to get something from the game.

“Tactics is about getting your numbers right and I think we got our numbers right second half.

"This club's been built on the diamond, I love the diamond, I wont go away from the diamond, but it’s nice to have some flexibility and some options, how we approach games, so I’m pleased with that."