Morris praises Luton team-mates for never turning 'toxic' during difficult season
Hatters forward insists there has been no blame this campaign
Luton forward Carlton Morris praised the dressing room spirit at Kenilworth Road for never once turning ‘toxic’ or playing the ‘blame’ game with each other despite what has been a bitterly disappointing season on the field for the Hatters.
Going into the campaign, the goals set out for Town by the club’s hierarchy were to challenge for a place back in the Premier League following their relegation from the top flight last term. However, a disastrous run of form saw them win just seven Championship matches by the end of February, as Luton looked odds-on to be playing League One football in the 2025-26 season.
Town have started to show real signs of being able to avoid the drop though, with five wins from their last 10 matches, three draws as well, including what was a terrific 3-1 victory over Bristol City on Easter Monday, with Morris on target for the first time since December 29, Luton also scoring three goals on home soil for the first time since mid-October.
Although the Hatters have come under some strong criticism from supporters at times during the season, Morris insisted that the bond among the players has never once wavered, saying: “It’s bouncing. Even in the season when we’ve been at our lowest point, the changing room has never turned on each other. It’s never turned toxic and I think that’s credit to the lads because it’s so easy to start blaming each other.
"When you are going around and rightfully so, we’re getting a lot of stick at some points of the season when it wasn’t going the best. I’ve been in positions before where people have turned on each other and it’s created that negative environment, but that’s never happened, so credit to the boys. They are enjoying it now off back-to-back wins, we’ve hit a bit of form at the minute and long may it continue.”
Luton have a real chance of making it three victories in a row when they entertain play-off chasing Coventry City at Kenilworth Road tomorrow afternoon, and if they do that, then Matt Bloomfield’s side will climb out of the bottom three for the first time since mid-January. They will stay there too, with fifth bottom Hull City hosting Derby County, who are fourth bottom, in the 3pm kick-off.
Eager for both the players and supporters to reproduce their efforts when beating Bristol City, Morris added: “You can expect that fire. The gaffer and Thommo (Richard Thomas, assistant manager) have been brilliant in drilling us all week to finding some kinks in their armour. If we come out and perform like that, I think nine times out of ten we are going to go and win the game.”
“At times that (good performances) hasn’t come to fruition this season, where we’ve had some crazily good performances here (at Kenilworth Road) and not taken the points, but thankfully I think that is starting to turn a bit now, so hopefully we can keep riding this wave over the last two games. The crowd noise when the goals go in and we are building momentum in the individual minutes of the game, you never realise how much that gives the lads the second wind, so it’s crucially important.”