Hatters boss insists his Luton players aren't suffering from a crisis of confidence
Town chief points to avoidable errors against QPR
Luton boss Rob Edwards doesn’t think that his side are suffering from a crisis of confidence as they look to register a long overdue first victory of the season when heading to Millwall tomorrow.
The Hatters travel to the New Den after taking just a single point from their opening four matches of the campaign, losing to Burnley, Preston and QPR, their only positive result when managing a goalless draw at newly-promoted Portsmouth. The manner with which they were beaten in their last clash against the R’s led to some cause for concern, taking the lead for the first time this campaign thanks to Jimmy Dunne’s first half own goal, as they looked the better side in the opening 45 minutes.
However, they were then pegged back with an hour gone, new signing Mark McGuinness making a hash of a long ball forward, before being outmuscled by Michael Frey, who also got the better of Teden Mengi to find Nicolas Madsen who easily found the net. Luton’s defensive fragilities were then exposed again moments later as a cross from the left saw Frey left completely unmarked to thunder his volley beyond Thomas Kaminski for a second goal that the hosts couldn’t recover from.
Although Town went close to a leveller late on, Carlton Morris denied by a fine save from Paul Nardi, Joe Taylor also nodding over, they couldn’t prevent a second straight home loss, but asked whether he thought the players’ confidence was in a fragile state due to relegation from the Premier League, following a run of 14 losses out of their last 17 matches, Edwards said: “I don’t think it is a confidence issue as if we were playing really, really poorly and we had been for quite a while, and losing, then it’s hard to take anything from it.
“It’s not a confidence thing, it’s a concentration thing. It's be robotic in those moments and do the right thing, that’s what it’s got to be. The best teams don't make those errors and if they do, then someone covers and mops up. We still have an opportunity to do that and we didn't, especially for that first one, so I don’t think it’s a confidence issue, but it could become one if we’re not careful.”
Having been handed the lead via Dunne’s error, a deflection that was particularly popular amongst the home fans, Luton had chances to double their lead, none better than when Shandon Baptiste sent striker Elijah Adebayo clean through on goal. Despite reaching double figures in the top flight, he was unable to open his account for the season, firing against the legs of Nardi who was able to grab the loose ball.
Rangers quickly made it an even more costly miss just a few minutes later when they did find the net, as Edwards continued: “If we went 2-0 up there, which we could have done, I don't think anyone would be saying you didn't deserve to be, or you weren't looking like you were a confident team, or you weren't looking like you believed in what you were doing, or the performance wasn't good.”
The fact that Town were breached when being in the ascendancy clearly changed the mood around Kenilworth Road, which was something that Edwards could sense from his position in the dug-out. However, he knows if his players had done their jobs correctly, that wouldn’t have been the case, adding: “It would have certainly rocked us as you can feel the atmosphere, everyone in the crowd will be ‘here we go again,’ and there will be a sense of anger and frustration and I get that.
"That can obviously transmit to the pitch a little bit as well, but if we don’t make those mistakes in the first place when I think we’re on to a really good performance and maybe I’m talking about something completely different, celebrating a win or being happy but I’m not. We’ve conceded a couple of goals, taken a big knock as it changes the whole atmosphere around the place.
"We actually gathered ourselves for a little bit I felt, but then we’ve got to try and make something happen, try and get back in the game. We made some changes and probably lost some rhythm but then came stronger which is probably to be expected towards the end. We pushed and had a couple of big chances, but didn’t take them.”