Hatters boss not about to start publicly blaming individuals for Luton's abysmal defending

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield wasn’t about to start publicly blaming any individuals for the manner in which the Hatters capitulated during the second half of their 3-2 defeat against Oxford United last united.

The visitors looked good to end their 11-game losing streak on the road when referee Stephen Martin whistled for half time, leading 2-1 thanks to Tom Krauß terrific strike and Mark McGuinness’s close range header following Jordan Clark’s wonderful free kick, although United themselves had found the net when Michal Helik got the better of Tom Holmes to volleyhome.

However, they were soon reverting to type on the road, with centre half Ciaron Brown escaping Daiki Hashioka’s attentions to prod in a corner on the hour mark, and then the worst of the lost, home defender Greg Leigh left alone by absolutely everyone in the area 10 minutes later to head Will Vaulks’ searching cross beyond a gobsmacked Thomas Kaminski, who was rooted to the spot.

Bloomfield, who now knows the size of the task ahead, Luton staring at a second successive relegation, but this time back to League One, insisted the only way to turn things around is by putting the hard work in on the training ground, as he said: “I’m not going to come out here and start pointing fingers, that’s not the way I am, but ultimately when the ball comes into or box, we have to defend it. We have to get first contact, we have to be marking, we have to have the right numbers of bodies between the posts, we have to defend the crosses, we’ll get on the training ground and work.

“It’s the only way to do it. We’ve got to get on the training ground and we’ve got to work. We’ve got to keep working, keep doing the basics. Any successful winning football team does the basics well, and we have to do the basics better. I knew the job when I came, but it’s a fantastic football club, full of really, really good people, there’s a lot of work to do but we’ll do it.”

Luton could well be in danger of beginning to get cut adrift at the bottom if they don’t start to pick up some results, starting against Millwall on Saturday, a side they are now five points behind, the Lions held to a 2-2 draw by Cardiff City in midweek. A trip to Sheffield Wednesday then follows, before the Hatters have an unenviable February to consider, with trips to Sunderland and Watford, also hosting table-toppers Sheffield United too.

Going into that sequence with just one point from 18 and five defeats in six, Bloomfield is hoping that one badly-needed success will inject his side with the confidence that is severely lacking, as he added: “It's what we need to do and that’s the game. To rise up the table we need to put a run together, that’s ultimately what it comes down to. We need to get the first one, we need to get that on the board and then belief and confidence will grow from there, but we have to get the first one.”