Hatters defender relieved Luton are starting to change their 'bad combination'

Luton defender Mark McGuinness is relieved that the Hatters are finally starting to do something to alter the ‘bad combination’ that was affecting them at both ends of the field.

With Town the lowest scorers in the league this season, netting just 35 goals from their 39 Championship fixtures, then it was imperative they kept things tight at the other end. That has also proved a massive struggle though, as being breached 60 times means they also currently have the fourth worst defensive record in the second tier.

Things have started to change for the better in recent weeks though as since the 2-0 loss to fierce rivals Watford in February, when the Hatters have kept 10 men on the field, they have only conceded a solitary goal, with clean sheets against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Hull, as the four they shipped at title-chasing Burnley came after centre half Kal Naismith was sent off with just 19 minutes on the clock.

A first clean sheet on the road since September during Saturday’s 1-0 success at Hull City, coupled with just three goals going into the net in six games at home, has seen Town start to put things right at the back. McGuinness has been one of the mainstays in doing that as well, as he was part of a back three that included Christ Makosso and Amari’i Bell for the third game in succession at the MKM Stadium, January window signing Naismith remaining on the bench once more.

Having now conceded just once in 270 minutes of football, McGuinness said: “It’s something that we were probably really poor at, we were really poor at, we conceded way too many goals, as well as not scoring many, so that’s a bad combination. But I think now we’ve settled into a back three, we can change, that’s not to say we’re very rigid in that, we’re flexible, we’ve got players on the bench, anyone can come in and take over, but it’s important that everyone knows their role.

“We’ve got a little bit of stability there now, we’ve got people who can come in, but it’s important that everyone coming in knows their roles and everyone does which is great. It allows us to chop and change, people coming in and out is going to happen. We’ve got seven games left, it's going to be tough so we need everyone.”

McGuinness himself stood out in Humberside, with one terrific block in the first half as Kasey Palmer looked destined to open the scoring for the Tigers, reacting well to get in the way of the midfielder’s effort from inside the area. After the break he came into his own as well, clearing the danger whenever Hull sent crosses into the area, which was on numerous occasions, as he more often than not got first contact to send them away.

He continued: “They can put it in all their like, I enjoy that, but everyone was top drawer and solid. That’s what it’s going to take and I love it. As I said, this is where I feel comfortable, I enjoy it, I enjoy the fight, the hard work and throwing your body around, that’s my job. I’ll continue to do that and everyone will as well. You've seen everyone doing it, blocks going in left, right and centre, so everyone was on it.”

The club record signing had spoken recently about how he hopes his character will shine through during Town’s attempts to avoid dropping down into League One and it certainly did at the weekend. On that being the case, he said: “Hopefully people can see that, that’s what I enjoy and I will continue to do that. That’s the team as well, it’s not just me. I’ve come into their team and feel like everyone’s got the same mindset. You can see out there and I think it will shine through in the final seven games.

Boss Bloomfield was also hugely impressed by the level of McGuinness’s performance and those around him too, Luton ending up with relatively youngsters Makosso and midfielder Lamine Fanne on the pitch as they closed out the victory. He said: “He’s (McGuinness) been fantastic the last few weeks. He had a little injury and missed a game or two but since he’s come back, he’s played in the middle and I think he’s been very, very good. He defends his box so incredibly well, he’s a real leader in the making. He’s still quite a young player but you forget as he’s been around so long and I thought he showed real leadership at the back.

"There’s only one way they’re going to get experience and that’s to go and do it. We know we’ve got a lot of really exciting young players with huge potential and we have to be really careful how and when we expose them to different situations and scenarios, but it felt like the right day. We needed extra legs on the pitch second half because of the way the game was going and I’m really, really pleased with the contribution of the whole group. The finishers came on and had an impact and there’s some young players on there at the end, but they saw it out well and they’ll learn from that experience.”

Matters in the final third are still proving tricky though, Luton’s only goal in their 1-0 triumph coming from the body of Tigers defender Alfie Jones, who inadvertently got in the way of Lewie Coyle’s clearance to deflect into his own net past goalkeeper Ivor Pandur just 11 seconds into the second period. Having drawn a frustrating blank against Middlesbrough the weekend before, it was a large slice of fortune that McGuinness felt they deserved, adding: “We picked up just where we left off before the international break.

"It felt solid, it felt good, not just me, defensively it was everyone across the pitch, it was really good. We got a bit of luck at the start of the half, I think we needed that. We’ve probably been lacking that over the course of the season so we deserved that. Sometimes it does take a little bit of luck. You create your own luck and we deserved it definitely. We were unfortunate against Middlesbrough, so we need to keep that going and keep being ruthless as that gives us a nice platform to defend and to hold on to some points.”