Luton skipper completely understands reaction from Town supporters

Hatters skipper Kal Naismith could completely understand the reaction from Town’s supporters after the full time whistle against Burton Albion on Saturday.

The Luton captain and his team-mates had been subjected to jeers following just 97 seconds of the match as they looked to build a passing move out from the back, a method that the home fans instantly voiced their displeasure at, even though one such move did paid off on 13 minutes, Joe Johnson advancing into midfield and delivering a defence-splitting ball that saw Nahki Wells go one-on-one with visiting keeper Bradley Collins and find the net.

However, the Hatters, who despite having a 10-game unbeaten run at Kenilworth Road, had gone into the game having lost four of their last six matches with frustration boiling over in the away stands at the end of the 1-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic on Wednesday evening, in which Town delivered another in a long line of limp displays in front of goal outside of Bedfordshire.

Unfortunately, they took that lack of a threat back to Kenilworth Road on this occasion, as once Wells scored, Luton couldn’t muster another meaningful shot on target for the rest of the game, despite Gideon Kodua being credited with one on 23 minutes, as the second period saw Jordan Clark and George Saville send hopeful attempts wide.

Trying to shut up shop for most of the second period didn’t go down well with the home fans either, although they would have stomached it had the Hatters’ tactics been successful, but there were warning signs when Kain Adom got clear in the box to lash into the side-netting with five minutes left. That wasn’t heeded though, Luton then breached in the second minute of seven added on, Davy van den Berg unable to get enough purchase on his clearance, which saw Udoka Godwin-Malife’s cross headed home at the back post by substitute Fabio Tavares.

Boos immediately rang out from the stands, which got worse during the final few minutes, with chants against the players following the conclusion of the fixture, where Naismith himself had to be stopped from going over to remonstrate with one fan by manager Jack Wilshere, who was also pulled away by members of his squad when going down the tunnel.

Speaking to the club’s official website about the reaction, Naismith said: “That’s to be expected. The fans are passionate fans, that's why I love playing for this club and they’ve got every right to voice their disappointment. They see us, they know that we're good players and we’re better than what we're showing and they probably feel the same as me, that we never really performed well. Even though we were winning 1-0, we’re not really taking the game to them and being ourselves.

“They see that and the frustration was building. The goal at the end and that obviously spills over, but I completely understand it from them. They’re passionate about their club, they love their club, they pay hard earned money to come and support us. We’ve had a lot of low points this season, but one thing the fans have not done is never turned up.

"You see it at a lot of other clubs where clubs are going through tough times and you look at the stands and they’re empty. It’s never been the case here, fans have come home and away, support the club and they’ve got every right to be frustrated. We want better, we’re frustrated in there and I feel for them, but I promise it’s not from a lack of effort. We’re constantly working and all we can do is bounce back and try to show that.”

Although Town gave themselves every chance of picking up the three points courtesy of their early goal, it was clear that with confidence alarmingly low following the manner of their 1-0 loss in Greater Manchester a few days earlier, they were intent on shutting up shop and trying to eke out the three points.

It left themselves open for the last-gasp leveller though, as Naismith was left disappointed they didn’t ever try to push on in an attempt to extend their advantage, especially having looked so good when doing so against Bradford City during their last home fixture, adding: “We didn't play too well, but it was just about the three points in the end.

"We've been dealt a blow in midweek with the result, we knew it wasn't good enough away from home, but one thing we've always done is that when we've been low at a lot of stages of the season, the lads have always been able to bounce back. It was just about bouncing back, three points no matter what. It was just about giving everything to get that and we never played well in the second half, but for 70 minutes we're looking at the clock and it was just dig in, defend, clean sheet wins us the game, so just be strong.

"We did that for large parts, but we weren’t ourselves, we didn't play enough, we weren't brave enough on the ball, we didn't do a lot of things well like we can do, but I thought we were just going to see out the game. We just couldn’t get into a flow and play how we wanted to play to really get at them and hurt them, that's how it felt on there.

"We weren’t good enough in possession, we weren't playing good enough long balls to get in behind them, but then look, just defend, give it everything we’ve got, get three points and we can talk about it after we've got a good win behind us as we’ve been really good at home so we can keep moving forward and progressing. We don't defend our box well enough and they get a last minute goal so it hurts, it’s a tough one to take.”