Joy for Steer as on-loan Villa stopper keeps a clean sheet on his Luton debut

New Town keeper Jed Steer was happy to start off his Luton career with a clean sheet and a comfortable FA Cup victory at former club Cambridge United on Saturday.

With Hatters boss Nathan Jones making eight changes to his side from the XI that picked up a 1-0 win against Swansea in the Championship during midweek, one of them saw James Shea rested, with Steer coming in.

It was the on-loan Aston Villa stopper’s first action since a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the Carabao Cup back in September, the visitors eventually losing on penalties, one of only three outings this term, plus a first FA Cup appearance since January 2018, a 3-1 third round home defeat to Peterborough.

Steer wasn’t hugely tested at the Abbey Stadium by the League One hosts, his best moment coming late on, diving full length to palm Ben Worman's 20-yarder away, as he reflecting on the game, he said: "It was nice, great to be back out there again too at the Abbey.

“It was very tough conditions and it was a tough game, but to get through to the next round, it was massive

"You saw the amount of giant-killings there were on the go at the weekend, it was a good game to get through.

“It’s always nice to keep a cleano, so a save at the end, that’s what we’re there to do, that was good.

"To keep a clean sheet on my debut, I can’t ask for much more than that, so I was happy with the night’s work.”

Although not having a great deal to do in terms of shots on his goal, Steer’s confidence when coming off his line was noted, particularly in the first half when he cleanly collected a deep free kick in the swirling wind.

His kicking on a tough night was also up to scratch too, as he continued: “I just wanted to come in and show everyone what I can do.

"Balls in the box as a keeper I always want to come and help out the defence when you can as when the ball’s in my hands, the game is dead.

"So that’s always something that I want to help out with and it was great to back out there.

"To play with the boys, get to know how they play and how the team plays, it was a good game to get started with.”

With Cambridge hoping to secure another upset after they famously beat Newcastle United 1-0 at St James' Park in the previous round, those dreams went up in smoke as Luton led 2-0 by the half hour with Reece Burke and Carlos Mendes Gomes on target.

Admiral Muskwe added a third late on, but Steer knew the quickfire double earlier in the tie that had done the damage.

He added: “It was big to get those goals in early.

"We knew what they did in the last round, so they’re always going to come out and it was always going to be a tough start for us.

"We stuck to our tactical game-plan, got the goals early and then didn’t come off the gas.

"We knew what they were going to chuck at us, and I thought we dealt with it fantastically well, so we ended up controlling the game and winning 3-0.

“It was extremely tough conditions to be honest, the second half, the wind, it was tough.

"The pitch wasn’t great, we knew that and I thought as a team, we dealt with it really well.

"We adapted to it and we’ve got to be happy with our nights work there.”