Hatters midfielder questions whether defeat 'means enough' to Luton players

​Long-serving midfielder Jordan Clark has questioned whether Luton’s worrying on-field struggles ‘means enough’ to the players who are currently taking to the pitch.

Following two defeats from three against Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle, the Hatters headed to Lincoln City at the weekend, turning in a woefully substandard display at the LNER Stadium as they went down to a 3-1 reverse. Trailing 1-0 early on, the visiting supporters were quick to let their players know what they thought of a dreadful opening half an hour, with the frustrations in the stands continuing in the second period too, manager Matt Bloomfield coming in for some severe criticism as well.

Although it was Clark who equalised with 13 minutes to go, Town’s defence proceeded to fall apart twice in the final five minutes as Lincoln heaped further misery on a side who, two seasons ago, were playing in the Premier League, now finding themselves back in the third tier of English football.

Bloomfield and his players were then greeted with further jeers when they trudged over to the near 1,500 travelling fans after the full time whistle, as discussing the reaction, Clark said: “It’s never nice seeing that after the game but it’s justified as we’re not good enough at the minute. It’s tough to take as I love this club so much and we’re just used to losing which is not good, especially after last season.

“We’ve just got to find it from somewhere now, we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror. I know I've said it a lot of times and the fans are probably sick of hearing it, but it's just down to us now to get together as a group and have a lot of choice words as something’s not right. It’s not tactics, it’s what’s inside and it doesn’t look as if it means enough which is the worrying thing.

"So as an older player now who’s been here a while, it’s down to me to get these boys going along with the other lads, as there’s a lot of new players in there, but we’ve been together for a few months now, so it’s no excuse. It’s a tough moment, but the only positive thing is we’ve got a lot longer in the season to go and a bit of time to turn it around which is the main thing.”

On how Town actually go about doing that though and make it mean more to the players who are tasked with taking to the field and stopping their worrying slide down the table, Clark continued: “I don’t know, it’s an individual thing. It’s that personal pride of I’m going to have a good game, I’m going to be better than my man today and if the ball drops there I’m going to get in front of him, I’m going to win the ball.

"You can work on as much tactical as much set-pieces, everything you can do in football, anything, but if you don’t come with what’s in there (heart), I’m going to be the best, I’m going to be better than my man, I’m going to try my hardest. I wouldn’t say it’s a lack of effort, it’s just for me a lot of bad decision making, doing the basics and it’s a bit raw at the minute, but I just know speaking to one of their players, in this league, it’s so important to do the basics.

"I keep saying that word, but it’s massive. We’re saying all the right things in there (dressing room), that’s the worrying thing as well. Before the game we’re saying all the right things, everyone looks ready for it and then when they come on and blow the whistle, we’re losing headers, losing tackles, losing second balls, not doing the basics.

"I spoke to one of their players and they do the basics, work on the basics and are top of the league, so it doesn’t matter what league you play in, League One, Premier League, that never changes in football. I don’t know if we think we’re better than we are or what, but something’s not right and it starts off by doing the horrible stuff the best you can and then the football comes second. It’s tough at the minute, but we’ll turn it around I’m sure of it."

With Town’s players receiving plenty of stick during and after the game, Clark, who scored his 20th goal in 187 outings for the Hatters with a clever finish to make it 1-1, was the only member of the squad to actually fully go over to the visiting supporters, as he gave his shirt to a young fan who had made his way to the LNER Stadium.

He didn’t want to make a big deal of his actions though, adding: “I promised it to a little boy before the game, so I’m not saying I’m trying to do something different, it’s not that. It’s the same as last season, I’ll go to the fans win, lose or draw, every week. If you get a load of rubbish, I’ll go there no matter what.

"Like I say I love this club and I’ll thank them no matter what. I just hope sooner rather than later we’ll be thanking them for a few wins and give them some smiles for the way home and at home, but at the minute it’s just down to getting back to the training ground and working even harder than we’re working. It’s up and down and we’ve got long enough to turn it around now, that’s the main thing, we’ve got to have a good chat with each other, get together and work even harder than we’ve been working.

“I said it in there (dressing room), you can say all the team stuff and all the tactics, whatever you work on, all that goes out of the window, as it’s down to the individual and it’s are you going to do your job along with your 10 other mates out there. It sounds a bit old school, but that’ll never change.

"We’re second best in a lot of areas at the minute which is worrying and like I said in this league you’ve got to do the basics, the horrible side of the game better than anyone if you want to achieve something and then your football and your individual ability and your quality should come out at the end. At the minute our quality is not coming out because we’re not doing the ugly side of the game well enough and we’re losing too many second balls and fights, duels, everything like that. So we’ve got to have a good look in the mirror and start fresh.”