Luton boss admits there were some 'raised voices' at the break during Posh victory
Bloomfield had been disappointed with opening 45 minutes
Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield revealed that there were some ‘raised voices’ during the half time interval of their 2-0 victory at Peterborough United this afternoon.
Having made two changes from the 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, new signing Jerry Yates and midfielder Shandon Baptiste coming in, it led to an opening 45 minutes in which the visitors did carry anywhere the kind of attacking threat they had wanted, unable to muster a single shot on target, Christ Makosso slamming over and Nahki Wells’ touch letting him down inside the area.
That all changed after the break though, as Town’s players were out early for kick-off and looked to show more intensity from the first whistle, Mads Andersen eventually heading George Saville’s corner beyond Nicholas Bilokapic on the hour mark and then Wells blocking the keeper’s clearance to set up Jordan Clark for a tap in with five minutes to go.
Although it led to what looks on paper like a comfortable victory, Bloomfield had been far from impressed with the opening exchanges, as he said: “That’s the relentless nature, that’s the identity we want to have. We weren’t happy at half time as a group, the boys weren’t happy with where it was at, I certainly wasn’t happy. We had words, and they reacted in the right way.
"The boys spoke really well at half time, before I had a chance to speak. We just didn’t quite get our press right and quite play with the right intensity. We can’t expect to just win games easily, it’s not the case. Darren’s (Ferguson) a fantastic manager and his teams play with a real style and identity. It was never going to be an easy day for us, absolutely not, but we know we want to be the best we can be.
"The boys spoke and I spoke, we wanted more from ourselves and each other, and we went and did that second half. We’ve got such a good leadership in terms of experience and voices and before I even had the opportunity they were talking to each other, what they wanted to do better. There were a couple of raised voices as we know how good we can be and we want to get there as quickly as we can, but it’s not going to look perfect overnight either
"I know that and the boys know that. It’s an ongoing process and that’s why I’m really pleased with their integrity, the way they know themselves that it wasn’t quite right. The first half wasn’t quite right, and they absolutely went and implemented everything I asked in the second half. I’m so proud of that performance second half, that’s what we want to be and the boys delivered, so I was really pleased with the group.”
Once Town had broken the deadlock through Andersen’s first goal for the club since netting in the 2-1 Premier League defeat to West Ham United in September 2023, there was never a question as to where the points would end up. It heightens the importance of Town getting that first goal this term, as Bloomfield added: “We’re still getting players up to speed with their fitness, we’re still an ongoing process to get to where we want to get to. Away from home you’ve always got to respect that it’s never going to be easy, but once we got that first goal it was going to be crucial.”