Lawless hugely disappointed he couldn't spark Luton's confidence into life during cup loss

Luton interim boss Alex Lawless was left bitterly disappointed that wasn’t able to give Town’s absolutely shattered confidence the spark it so desperately needed during last night’s embarrassing 3-1 Vertu Trophy defeat at League Two Cambridge United.

Although making six changes from Saturday’s woeful 2-0 loss against Stevenage, which included bringing in the likes of Jordan Clark, Shayden Morris and Milli Alli, the hosts went even further, with 10 alterations from their 3-1 victory over Crawley at the weekend. Town did take the lead through Mads Andersen’s close range finish, but they were then pegged back by Glenn McConnell’s wonderful 25-yard drive that flew past James Shea just after the half hour mark.

The U’s then went on to score just 58 seconds into the second period, Elias Kachunga left unmarked to stab home after slicing Luton open on the right, as they sealed what was a deserved victory late on when Teden Mengi and Nigel Lonwijk both criminally left a goal kick, which allowed the experienced forward to go through and an exposed Shea.

Although Town had more possession on the night, there was no doubting that the U’s were worthy winners, as they posed a threat to the Hatters’ flimsy looking back-line all evening, while at the other end, they showed them how it was done, defending their box brilliantly, first to virtually all of Luton’s 27 crosses on the night.

Having gone into the contest with the aim of starting to get Town on the right foot again, with the atmosphere around the club at an all-time low, on not being able to do so, Lawless said afterwards: “It’s hugely disappointing. We’re looking to get a win, it’s what you want, let’s be honest, and that’s what we haven’t got. I think the second half probably epitomises a little bit where we’re at at the minute, as after some encouraging parts in the first half, that was disappointing.

"I think the confidence is low, we know that and I really feel like it was an opportunity in the cup against a team who’s in the league below us, to really lay a glove on it and get that win that would spark a bit of confidence and then go from there. It’s not to be tonight, but it needs to happen soon. We know how important that winning feeling is, it can’t really be replicated.

"That was the main target and playing as strong a team as possible was the obvious thing to try and do that, whilst also being mindful there’s players who will want minutes who weren’t getting it. There was definitely that in mind, which obviously saying that makes it that more disappointing that we have gone as strong as we have and we haven't managed to get that winning feeling.

“Tonight was hopefully going to be the little part to that, that was going to give that little leap to feed off and that hasn’t happened, so it has to happen in the near future for that momentum and those good feelings to return which are the things that will allow things to change for the positive.”

Although he only had just over 24 hours to prepare his side for the fixture, having got the gig when Town decided to sack Matt Bloomfield after the weekend’s loss at The Lamex, Lawless, who takes the U21s on a regular basis in his role as senior professional development coach, didn’t think that was too much of a deciding factor, as he continued: “It’s a challenge but that’s the job.

"You have regular things like this that I’m exposed to at the 21s, so it’s not as if it’s a surprise that type of stuff can be out there. I’ve been around here long enough to know that you’ve got to work fast, but the support around the place, it makes all that stuff a lot easier. So it was challenging, but I wouldn't put anything down to an excuse for not getting a win tonight. There’s plenty of things to do and I think we worked quick to do as best we could.”

With Lawless currently 4/1 with the bookies to replace Bloomfield in the hot-seat permanently despite his lack of experience in a senior managerial role. Asked if it was something he would be interested in, the former Hatter, who made over 200 appearances for the club during his playing career, added: “Stuff like that it then becomes about and it’s not about me.

"We all know my feelings towards the club, my commitment to the club, I’m proud to try and help out and be in this position, I’m very proud indeed, but it’s not about me, it’s about me trying to help that. So I don’t want any of that type of stuff to come in the way of that as tonight was an attempt at helping and that’s what’s going to continue until otherwise.”