Morris insists Championship relegation is another part of the Luton Town 'rollercoaster'

​Luton skipper Carlton Morris insists going back to League One is another part of the ‘rollercoaster’ that is the Hatters’ footballing journey after relegation from the Championship was confirmed at the weekend.

Having signed for the club during the summer of 2022, Morris had enjoyed plenty of highs since arriving in Bedfordshire, scoring 20 goals as Town won promotion to the Premier League, and then reaching double figures in the top flight. However, after dropping out of the highest league in English football, a 5-3 defeat at West Bromwich Albion last weekend means Town, who had been backed to win promotion, will now be in the third tier once more next season.

Asked if it was the worst moment of his professional career, the striker, who notched eight goals in total, said: “Yes, I guess so, objectively speaking, but my mentality is a bit different. I’m grateful and blessed to be fit, healthy and playing the game I love for a football club that I love. Setbacks happen, much worse setbacks happen than this in regular life, so we just need to galvanise the troops and get our focus onto next season. It’s part of the rollercoaster which is being with Luton Town. It’s not always going to be riding the highs, we’ve got to ride the lows out together as well and bounce back strong.

"I say it's (the future) bright. I love this football club, it's given me so much, I will never give up hope on it. It's a building block, it's another part in this club's great history I think, to now go on the front foot and to have a successful season. There’s going to be a grieving period for sure and whatever changes there will be in the building those changes will be in the building. We need to get ourselves together in pre-season, like I know the lads will, the staff will, and make sure next year’s better."

Having kept the majority of the squad together that gave the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea a real scare in the top flight last term, there is every chance that a number could move on this summer as Town look to rebuild for a season in the third tier. Asked if he felt the squad could be broken up, Morris continued: “Perhaps, that’s not a question I can answer really. You’d have to ask the higher ups about that, but yes, back to back relegation is not something anyone wants on their resume that’s for sure.”

Although Luton had given themselves every chance of staying up, with three straight wins and a run of just six victories and two defeats in 11 going into the finale in the West Midlands, their form prior to that, just seven wins from 34, plus an awful goal difference, meant Town were always in danger of finishing below the dotted line.

Another woeful defensive showing at the Hawthorns saw that that prove to be the case, rivals Hull City able to climb out of the drop zone thanks to their 1-1 draw at Portsmouth. On why he felt Town performed so poorly when it mattered most, and if the club could indeed take anything from the campaign just gone into their efforts of hitting back immediately, Morris added: “No-one wants to go out like that for sure. It could be a sense of all the energy, excitement, pressure build-up going into the game, perhaps, I don’t know. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but to go out like that is disappointing.

"I think every league in the English football pyramid deserves the utmost respect. You look at the Championship this season, 49 points we’ve got and we’ve gone down. Our form in recent months has been excellent, I touch on the too big a mountain to climb again, but this league, or all the leagues in the EFL deserve the utmost respect. There’s good quality players everywhere, good quality teams everywhere. There’s no whipping boys anymore, so it's just showing the leagues proper respect.”