Naismith hails 'down and out' Hatters for taking play-off race to final day
Town go to Bolton in need of a victory
Captain Kal Naismith hailed his side for taking the season into the final day of the campaign after admitting the Hatters had looked ‘down and out’ not so long ago.
Following a 1-1 draw at Doncaster Rovers on March 10, Luton found themselves sitting 12th in the table, on a six game winless run, trailing Huddersfield Town in sixth by seven points. It looked like there was no chance of getting above the dotted line, but a 2-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers got the ball rolling, as they made it back-to-back wins by beating Exeter City 3-2 at Kenilworth Road.
Although they drew 1-1 with fellow play-off rivals Stockport, Town have gone on to win seven out of their last nine matches, taking 23 points from a possible 27, also winning the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley Stadium, as they have raced to 71 points to sit seventh in the division. It means Luton now go to Bolton Wanderers, who have secured their spot in the top six, on the final day able to catch Stockport, Bradford and Stevenage if they can beat the Trotters and any of those sides don't triumph or Boro are held at home by Wigan Athletic.
On the fact that has now occurred, Naismith said: “I’m incredibly proud. We looked down and out not so long ago really and then we went on an incredible run. The cup final helped a lot. We went and won that which brought a real feel-good factor around the club, in the stadium, with the fans. We’ve done a lot this season so I’m proud it’s gone to the last day.
“We can take confidence from the last couple of months that every game we’ve gone into is like we must win, we must win, we must win. We’ve just taken it step by step, game by game, treated every game like a cup final, just focused in on that moment. It’s going to be no different, we’re going to be the exact same like we’ve done for all the games, including the cup final, for this one. We’re going into it confident but we know we’re playing a good side.”
Naismith has been involved in a game with the play-offs on the line for the Hatters before, although it was a bit calmer that day, as they beat Reading 1-0 at Kenilworth Road in May 2022 thanks to Harry Cornick’s goal to secure sixth spot in the Championship. The Scot completed 90 minutes as Town went out in the semi-finals to Huddersfield and asked if he can use that when going to the Toughsheet Stadium, the skipper said: “There’s a few of us here that were there that day so I guess you can lean on that experience, but it’s different now, it’s a different group.
"What we've done in the past three or four months, the confidence we’ve got in each other in big games, big moments, we’ve always turned up, we’ve been there for each other and it’s just been better. I think that’s where we get our confidence, looking around the changing now at each other and knowing we’re going to be there.
“It’s go out there and win. You can look at other clubs and what they’re going to do and what the results are going to be. The only thing that gives us a chance is if we go and win the game, so it’s good that we’ve got that single-minded focus. Of course we’d prefer it to be in our hands but it’s not. We’ve all been around the game, I’ve played the game for long enough to know that it’s never straightforward, there’s always chaos and bedlam on the final day and things that can happen. We’ll let football take its course, but all we can do is concentrate on winning the game.”
One thing that Naismith is pleased about is that they have had seven days since beating Barnsley 2-1 on Saturday before heading to the Trotters, having had a period to recharge their batteries after a congested schedule of seven games in 23 days. He said: “The games have been non-stop at the minute. It feels a bit weird that we’ve got the rest in between as we’ve been playing so constantly, but it is good to rest. To go and beat a Bolton side that are flying high in the league and a really good side, you need to be rested, mentally, physically. You need to be prepared to give it absolutely everything, so we will, we’ll be prepared, we’ll go there and show our best selves.”
Finally, with around 3,000 Hatters fans expected to make the trip to Greater Manchester for the contest, asked what he say to them in terns of a rallying call, Naismith added: “My first message is thank you, thank you for the support. I hear there’s two and a half thousand already, potentially going to be three thousand, it just give us such a boost. You think wow, when we get out and we’ll hear them, just thanks for your incredible support. Just get behind us one last push and hopefully it’s not the last game.”