Luton skipper insists Town's early struggles in front of goal are 'not a concern'
Hatters captain discusses lack of threats in the final third
Luton captain Kal Naismith was remaining unconcerned over his side’s lack of goalscoring threat following the 2-1 defeat at Bradford City on Saturday.
Trailing 2-0 in Yorkshire, the visitors failed to have a shot on target until the 74th minute, when Naismith himself saw his free kick parried by home stopper Sam Walker. From there, Town did show signs of improvement, Gideon Kodua netting with a towering header from Cohen Bramall's cross, while Lasse Nordas’s 20-yarder was unconvincingly dealt with by Walker.
Before Tuesday night’s clash with Wigan Athletic, the Hatters had just seven shots on target from their opening three matches, scoring four goals, one of them an own goal from AFC Wimbledon defender Ryan Johnson. That was something they upped to 11 in midweek, with five goals, having triumphed 1-0 over the Latics thanks to George Saville’s measured volley from Liam Walsh’s cross after just nine minutes.
Jordan Clark also went close when he was denied by visiting keeper Sam Tickle’s legs, while Milli Alli warmed the palms of the Latics stopper twice, substitute Lasse Nordas also hitting the inside of the post from 20 yards. Although summer signing Jerry Yates has struggled to receive any real service since arriving from Championship outfit Swansea City, but despite that, speaking at Valley Parade, Naismith wasn’t worried, saying: “It’s not a concern, no it’s not a concern.
"We’ve got the players in the changing room who are top players in attacking areas, we just need to be better as a team to get them in the area to go and showcase what they do. It’s not just the forward players, Yatesy, he’s trying his best, we’re just not getting him into the areas. There were a few good balls that went in, I remember Macca (Mark McGuinness) flashing a great ball across, we just need to do more, so I’m not concerned at all. We’ve got so many good players and it’s the hardest part of the game. I’ve played up there, but as soon as you get it rolling we’ll score plenty of goals.”
To their credit, Town did finally get on the scoresheet in Yorkshire when half time substitute Bramall’s left wing cross was excellently headed home by Kodua to open his account following a summer loan move from West Ham. Naismith added: “We kept going, kept constantly going, everybody on the pitch thought we could get something from the game
"We were just a little bit off, but it was still a well worked goal. Clicker (Jordan Clark) with a little backheel, Cohen going down that side, he stood it up and it’s another wingback getting in at the back post. It’s something we work on, it was a good goal, we tried but they managed to hang on.”