Hatters defender Burke hopeful that his and Luton's 'slow start' is now over

Luton defender Reece Burke is hopeful that what he feels has been a ‘slow start’ to the season by both himself and the Hatters is now over after recording a first home victory on Saturday.

Following a campaign in which Town reached the play-offs, beaten over two legs by Huddersfield Town, the Hatters began the new term with renewed optimism about possibly going one better this time.

Buoyed by a summer of recruitment that saw Carlton Morris, Cauley Woodrow, Luke Freeman and Alfie Doughty, to name just four, signed, then hopes were high among both players and supporters.

After four winless games, those aspirations appeared to have suffered a slight dent, but a 2-0 success at Swansea City in August started to see things turn things around, although not yet at Kenilworth Road.

That all changed on Saturday as Luton, aided by Burke’s stunning 25-yard curler, defeated Blackburn 2-0 to register a first three points in front of their own fans, and with three wins from six, are now 11th in the table, just two points from the top six.

It led Burke to say: “I’ve said before that I feel like it’s been a bit of a slow start to the season for us.

"I think our performances have deserved more, and I feel that we deserve more points as well, but we’ve got to keep moving forward.

"It’s a big home win for us and hopefully we can move on to the next one.

“We should definitely have more points on the table than what we have now, but that’s in the past now.

"We’ve got to focus on the future games and focus on picking up those points.”

Burke was making his sixth start in the league at the weekend, recalled to the back-line following some injury issues that saw him miss the opening match of the campaign and then sit out the two home games with Wigan Athletic and Coventry.

After winning 27 appearances in the Championship last term, he now wants to push on himself after the fortnight off, continuing: “I’m delighted to be back in the team.

"I feel like I’ve had a bit of bad luck due to injuries and illness, but I’m glad to be back and to get my first goal in the league.

"I had the concussion at Cardiff which wasn’t ideal for me and I feel like I’ve had a slow start to my season personally.

"Then I do a rib injury and have a bit of trouble with my breathing, which set me back as well, but I got through today, that was the main thing on my mind.

"Then with the break now I can settle that down and go again.

"I just want to play as many games as I can this season and keep myself personally fit, try and progress and do well.

"That’s my aim every year, try to get more games, more experience and more minutes, as I feel like I’ll become a better player as well.”

With Burke returning to the side, the former West Ham and Hull defender was a big factor in Town keeping just their third clean sheet of the campaign, which followed a 2-2 draw against Coventry in midweek where the Hatters looked increasingly open at the back.

He added: “We always work defensively on the training ground.

"I think a few of the games this season we’ve been a bit sloppy with it, but today we’ve got that clean sheet.

"Hopefully that boosts the confidence within the defensive unit and we can move forward and get more.

“The lads gave it their all, we’ve got a nice little break, recover, prepare well for the next game.”