Hatters boss believes last-gasp leveller at Stoke is a 'significant' moment for Luton

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield thought the manner of last night’s stoppage time 1-1 draw against Stoke City felt like a ‘significant’ moment for the Hatters in their bid to stay in the Championship this season.

After a low quality first half which saw Luton going closest to an opener when Thelo Aasgaard’s volley flew inches over, the visitors were looking by far the more threatening side after the break, Milli Alli having a real impact on proceedings. The attacker, who had come on for the injured Alfie Doughty after just 17 minutes, weaved his way into the box following a powerful run, denied a certain goal by the body of a covering City defender.

Mark McGuinness also nodded wide from a right wing corner, while a back post Carlton Morris header caused panic, but with 15 minutes to go, it appeared Town were going to see their four game unbeaten run ended, as having just made three substitutions, one of them, Lamine Fanne, was adjudged to have fouled Sam Gallagher for a free kick some 25 yards from goal.

Lewis Baker stepped up and let fly, seeing his attempt deflect off the shoulder of another replacement in Reece Burke, to wrongfoot the already diving Thomas Kaminski and hit the net. Rather than let their heads drop though, Luton still pushed for a leveller, Alli’s fierce attempt batted away by Potters stopper VIktor Johansson and then late addition to the fray Josh Bowler failing to turn home from close range.

However, in the first minute of five added on, Lasse Nordas nodded the ball out to the wing, which eventually saw Izzy Jones' cross end up at the feet of Alli via an acrobatic overhead volley attempt from Jordan Clark. The January addition kept his cool to swerve his way past two markers and then crack an unstoppable finish that arrowed past Johansson at his near post.

The equaliser meant that Stoke, who would have gone six points ahead of Luton with just five games remaining, stayed within four, as Town also pulled one more back on Hull City, as the Tigers were beaten 1-0 at Watford. With Cardiff City and Derby County both also drawing with Preston and Burnley respectively, then discussing the timing of the leveller, Bloomfield said: “It feels significant as if we had lost a game where we played so well it would have been particularly morale-draining.

"It would have been really disappointing if we had lost when we played so well. Especially away from home on a big pitch, we got the ball down and we passed it really, really well. I thought we showed good variety in our play and it would have been really disappointing to lose, so to find a way to come back from 1-0 down and not give up, to find that moment, I’m really, really proud of the boys. We’re evolving all the time. At home at the Kenny and away from home, we have to have a slightly different gameplan because of the pitch size and the way we set up.

"Obviously we’re missing Eli (Elijah Adebayo) tonight. We went with Chongy (Tahith Chong) for that extra energy, the legs and the dribbling ability that he brings, but from a coaching point of view, the way that the boys implemented the gameplan and the way they executed it, I’m really pleased with them. They’re working ever so hard, you can see that. The togetherness, the camaraderie, the spirit that we’ve got in the camp right now and to share that with the supporters again shows how far we’ve come.

"I think we can all see that the team is growing and evolving. The spirit, the feeling, the confidence, the belief around the football club as a whole. Our supporters, with the mood at the training ground, with the noise levels around the canteen, it’s growing. It’s a great point for us, a real good point for us and it’s up to us to turn up the Kenny on Saturday now. I know our supporters will be roaring us on, it’s up to us to put a performance in.”

Bloomfield was disappointed to see Fanne penalised in the manner he was for the set-piece that Town conceded from, a number of decisions made by referee Dean Whitestone that he took issue with. One of them, booking Carlton Morris in the first half, meant the forward had to be replaced with 20 minutes to go, after City defender Ashley Phillips tried to get Luton’s skipper sent off just seconds after the restart, running into the Town forward and then theatrically going to ground holding his face.

The boss continued: “I think he’s (Fanne) read the chop inside and as he’s stronger, the lad’s held on to him, gone down. I felt there were a few soft ones go against us second half if I’m perfectly honest which was really disappointing from my point of view, but it was still going to take a deflection to score against us.

“The decision we took (taking Morris off), Carlton’s a massive player for us. He’s our leader, he’s our captain, he’s such a massive personality, but he’d been booked. He had that little moment at the start of the second half, it’s a busy three game week as well. We need him so it just felt like we’d had to use one stoppage up in the first half and you’re only allowed three, so it felt like the right time to bring fresh legs on.”

Having used five substitutions during the contest, Bloomfield was happy with the impact all of the quintet had from the bench, adding: “It’s a squad game, we’ve discussed it several times and we speak a lot about the impact that the finishers can have. It was nice for them tonight, especially in a busy three game week, on a big pitch, on a Tuesday night.

"I had a slight concern that tonight was going to be tough for us as the amount of emotional input we put into the game on Saturday, but it just felt like the right moment to freshen us up. All the finishers, I thought Burkey was excellent, Lamine, Josh, Lasse and obviously Milli. They all had an impact in the game, which is what we want. It’s all about the group, and will always be that.”