Hatters midfielder happy to keep his unbeaten run going when finding the net for Luton

Town midfielder Luke Berry was glad to keep up his proud record of scoring important goals for the Hatters with his late equaliser against Millwall on Tuesday night.

Having been found by Jordan Clark just outside the box with three minutes to go and Luton 2-1 behind, the 30-year-old took a touch before swivelling and driving low into the bottom corner on his left foot to ensure the hosts salvaged a fully deserved draw.

It was the 24th time that Berry has been on target in a Luton shirt in 20 separate matches, and whenever he has done so, Town are yet to lose, with 13 wins and now seven draws.

Speaking about his goal, he said: “Someone said a stat that when I’ve scored we haven’t lost, so it’s always nice that when your input into the team when you do score is getting points, that’s the main thing.”

When the ball did beat the sprawling dive of George Long in front of the Kenny End faithful, Berry, who was only making his third appearance off the bench in the Championship since the turn of the year, set off on a celebration packed with emotion.

He continued: “It was a big one as I feel like sometimes I'm coming on and I’m getting half chances, keeper’s making a good save, so it was just one of those.

"I’ve been working hard on the training pitch as well, so it was a big one for me personally.

"It’s my first goal under Rob (Edwards) as well just to show I can do it, I can score goals.”

Taking a closer look at Berry’s record for the Hatters, his first goals came with a hat-trick in a 7-1 League Two victory over Stevenage back in October 2017.

He then netted in consecutive games as Town won 2-1 at Crewe and hammered Gateshead 5-0 in the FA Cup.

Berry also scored as Grimsby were beaten 2-0 at Kenilworth Road, before goals in the 4-1 win over Crawley and 2-2 draw with Cheltenham.

With Luton promoted, the midfielder carried on in League One, scoring in the 4-0 wins over Peterborough and Doncaster, plus a 2-1 success at Bristol Rovers, as the Hatters went straight through the third tier.

Now in the Championship, Berry managed one goal in the 2019-20 campaign, but that was a crucial one, securing a 1-1 draw with Barnsley in The Great Escape as Town somehow stayed up.

Another two goals came the following term, as Luton beat Derby 2-1 and then drew 1-1 with Blackburn, before he enjoyed a prolific spell in a 2021-22 campaign that was unfortunately blighted by injury

He scored an impressive seven goals in 15 outings, with a dramatic late double in a stunning 2-2 draw at Blackburn, before notching in the 3-3 draw with Swansea and then as Coventry were hammered 5-0.

Berry also netted in Town's 4-0 FA Cup success over Harrogate, with another brace as Preston were seen off 4-0.

This year, despite limited game time, he has found the net on three occasions, the only goal in a 1-0 win over Blackpool before vital late equalisers in the 1-1 draw with Rotherham under Mick Harford’s charge and then on Tuesday night.

It means he is starting to close in on the record of 23 games unbeaten when scoring set by striker Stuart Fleetwood during his time at the club in the Conference days.

Team-mate Elijah Adebayo fell just short of beating that when his sequence of 22 was ended when Luton lost 3-2 to West Bromwich Albion this season, as did Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s effort last term, a 3-2 defeat at the Hawthorns cutting his run at 18 matches.