Hylton determined to keep his place after spell on the bench

Hatters striker Danny Hylton is determined to try and stay in the team once more after winning his place back recently.
Hatters striker Danny HyltonHatters striker Danny Hylton
Hatters striker Danny Hylton

The 29-year-old, who was Luton’s top scorer for the past two seasons, had a stopstart beginning to the campaign after suffering a hamstring injury.

He then returned to the side, scoring a treble against Accrington, before a red card picked up at Rochdale in early November.

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That saw him sit out three games, while it was a further seven matches before he started again, at home to Barnsley on New Year’s Day.

However, Hylton had no qualms about missing out, saying: “I got suspended and Harry Cornick came in and the boys were doing the business.

“It was frustrating, but it was great, I was watching on the sidelines, coming on in a team that was winning, seeing us climb the table.

“I’d much rather that than come back into a team that was losing every game.

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“So I was a bit frustrated, but now that I’ve got a chance, I’ll try and stay in the team.

“We’ve got a great squad, wonderful players in the team, so if you’ve got the shirt you try and keep it and if not there’s always someone knocking on the door.”

Before his red card, Hylton had improved his disciplinary record immeasurably, not even seeing yellow, whereas at the same stage last term, he had already been booked twice, picking up seven cautions the campaign before.

He had made a real effort to stay in the referee’s good books, saying: “It was definitely something that the gaffer is on to me about.

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“He says you can’t get sent off or miss games, because it’s not good and something that I consciously tried to.

“I never try and get sent off, it’s just the way I play, I close down and tackle.

“I don’t think I picked up a booking and then it was a straight red card.

“It was frustrating, but we’ve got a great squad and I had to sit out for a bit, the first time in the last two years.

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“We were winning and Elliot (Lee), Collo (James Collins) and Harry Cornick were doing the business, so you can’t complain. I’ll just try and keep the shirt now and try to score some goals.”

Hylton has not scored since that hat-trick in the 4-1 thrashing of Accrington, some 11 appearances ago, although was denied two goals recently, with the effort at Walsall, clearly proved onside on TV footage.

He said: “There were a couple of offsides that we looked back on and they looked wrong, so a couple of goals denied there.

“I felt like I was coming on and doing okay, bringing something to the team when I did come on, it’s so nice to be back in the team.

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“Now I’ll just try and score and make sure it doesn’t get disallowed.”

Completing back to back 90 minutes will do the striker the world of good though in his attempts to regain his sharpness.

He said: “It’s nice to be back out there the last few games, I’m feeling a little bit fitter and sharper with every game that goes on.

“It was a long time out, 10, 11 games out, you try and train as hard as you can, but nothing’s quite the same as games.

“So it was good to get a couple of games under my belt.

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“I’ll try and get sharper and try and kick the ball in the back of the net hopefully as soon as possible.”

Hylton hopes that first goal back will come this weekend when they head to fellow promotion challengers Sunderland after drawing two blanks against Barnsley and Sunderland. He added: “They (team-mates) keep saying it’s me!

“I’ve got back into the team and we’ve got no goals, but we’ve had two really tough games. We’ve got some tough games coming up and I’m sure you’ll see us score before long.”