Mengi felt Luton defended as skipper Tom Lockyer would have done to keep a first Premier League clean sheet

Luton defender Teden Mengi felt his side performed in the manner that skipper Tom Lockyer would have done as they picked up a first Premier League clean sheet of the season at the 17th attempt when beating Newcastle United 1-0 at Kenilworth Road yesterday.

Having shipped 32 goals in their previous 16 outings, Town had gone so close to doing so in previous matches, conceding a last minute leveller to Liverpool last month, also breached late on by Crystal Palace as well. However this time, they managed a first shut out in the top flight since April 25, 1992 when they saw off Aston Villa 2-0, Alec Chamberlain between the posts on that occasion, with Andros Townsend on target at the other end to secure all three points.

To do so, Town’s defenders put their body on the line time and time again, with six blocks on the day to keep out a Newcastle front line containing England international Callum Wilson, in-form winger Anthony Gordon, plus first half substitute Alexander Isak. Some of the stand-out efforts involved Issa Kabore bravely diving in to prevent Lewis Miley from opening the scoring in the first half, with Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga doing similar in the same attack, while Gabe Osho threw himself in the way of two attempts as well, the kind of blocks that Lockyer, who suffered a cardiac arrest during last weekend trip to AFC Bournemouth, had become synonymous with during his Luton career.

Speaking about their display, Mengi said: “I’m really delighted with the performance, but more importantly, we’re really happy. We all dedicated that win to Tom and hopefully he’s really proud of that, but really delighted with the performance, proud of the team, a first clean sheet.

“That was the main theme of today, to do what Locks would do, as we all know what type of player Locks is. We just tried to give our best and do what Locks would do and do what Locks would want us to do. We delivered that in abundance, so I’m really happy with the team performance, really proud of what we put on display, but we go again, we keep going.

“We defended with our lives, let’s just say that. As a back-line, that’s our passion, that’s what we’re here to do. The rest can go and score for us and win us the game, we’ll do the rest, but I don’t even think it was us as players, it was 11 leaders out there, everyone put their bodies on the line.

“It was a very tight scoreline, but that’s what it’s like in the Premier League, fine margins, but we came away with the three points and the clean sheet. It’s (Kenilworth Road) a special place for anyone to come, it doesn’t matter if you’re league leaders or bottom of the table, everyone is going to struggle coming here it’s as simple as that.”

It was the same for midfielder Ross Barkley, who starred once more for the Hatters, as summing up his side’s performance, he said: “Grit, determination, passion, never say die attitude and that’s what it was today. The manager said go out and perform in the way that Locks has performed over the years for the club, so we did do that.”

Luton did get one slice of luck in the second period when Isak thought he had levelled, taking advantage of Mengi’s rare blemish to beat Thomas Kaminski and find the net. The goal was chalked off due to a narrow offside though, as boss Rob Edwards added: “I forgot about that, flipping heck, I think it was really close wasn’t it? Really close. Maybe that was that little bit that’s gone for us that we needed, maybe somehow we’ve earned that this week.”