Hatters boss refuses to criticise his players despite yet another away loss

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield is refusing point blank to criticise his players after they fell to yet another defeat on the road when thumped 4-0 by Burnley on Saturday.

The Hatters had headed to Turf Moor with some semblance of renewed optimism having picked up a first win of Bloomfield’s reign when beating Portsmouth 1-0 the previous weekend. However, with Kal Naismith sent off after just 18 minutes for Town, the game was then up, as the 10 men were simply swept aside by Scott Parker’s promotion-chasing Clarets, who scored two before half time and twice more after the break to extend their unbeaten run in Lancashire this season.

Although it means the Hatters have now lost 15 of their last 16 matches on the road in all competitions, with Bloomfield himself taking just one point from a potential 15 outside of Bedfordshire, it means they dropped to second bottom, remaining five points from safety. Despite the heavy loss, the Hatters chief had been satisfied with his team’s effort following their numerical disadvantage, especially after the break when substitute Jacob Brown was denied by James Trafford, also deflecting another attempt wide of the target.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “I’m not going to criticise my players, it’s not my style, I’m not going to do it. However much I’m asked, I’m not going to criticise them. “The boys’ discipline, structure, shape, was excellent for the first 18 minutes and with 10 men it's going to be tough, but we defended the goal. I’m very proud of the way the boys kept going with 10 men.

"It would have been easy second half to go under. The boys didn't, the boys stood up to be counted. They were fighting and we have to recognise that. Irrespective of the result and the emotion of the occasion, we have to recognise that the boys fought and they ran and they're actually looking for a goal back at the end of the game. We had a couple of corners, Milli (Alli) came on, gave us energy, I thought he was excellent. Lamine (Fanne) came on, gave us energy, he was excellent, Jacob Brown came on, gave us energy, he was excellent.

“It’s about what we do between now and the end of the season. That would have been the same irrespective of the result today. It’s about us and what we do. We have to keep focused and not let anything else affect our work. That’s simple and that’s how I conduct myself and that won’t change. We have to keep strong, resilient and we have to keep working towards what we know we need to do.”