Naismith thrilled Luton were able to triumph in 'win or bust' six-pointer at Derby

Town defender Kal Naismith was overjoyed that Luton were able to triumph in what he and rest of his team-mates had known was a ‘win or bust’ clash at relegation rivals Derby County on Good Friday.

The Hatters went into the game trailing the Rams, who occupied the place just outside the relegation zone, by three points, and with Hull City a further two in front of their opponents, knew that anything other than victory, with just three fixtures to come afterwards, would more than likely end their realistic hopes of staying in the second tier.

Milli Alli’s 10th minute goal ensured gave them the lead, as the visitors were able to keep that advantage intact throughout a second half where they were under siege for the majority, but led superbly by centre half Mark McGuinness, who shone in what was an outstanding defensive display by the whole team, were able to hold out for the most crucial of clean sheets.

It saw Luton draw level on points with their hosts, and go to within two of Hull who lost at Swansea, as although boss Matt Bloomfield had tried to play the significance of the fixture beforehand, Naismith admitted the squad knew exactly what was at stake, saying: “There were no secrets coming in, we knew how big the game was. It was win or bust almost. We never spoke much about it, but listen, we’re players, we know the game, we know football, we knew how big it was.

"Yes it was tense, it was really tense at times, but after the game, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a centre half, but those results for me are sometimes better than your three or four nils. When you just see a team unity, all together, just scrapping and fighting, it was scrappy at times and it lacked quality, but one thing you can’t say is the lads weren’t all tight knit together, putting their bodies on the line for everything. So I’m just proud we got the result.”

It had looked at the midway point of the game that Luton were on their way to a far more comfortable victory than they could have imagined, such was their control of proceedings, as the Rams didn’t really threaten Thomas Kaminski’s goal. That all changed the moment the second period began though, John Eustace’s side throwing everything at the Hatters to try and level, Town clinging on for dear life at times, with their Belgian international stopper making three big saves, McGuinness also clearing off the line.

The fact they did gave Naismith a huge boost for the campaign climax, as he continued: “First half I thought we were solid. We started well, they always start fast, first 15, 20 minutes, try and get the crowd onside, but it was a perfect away performance. We won our battles, spun it in behind them, we got up the pitch, got the goal and we started to control parts of the game. We’ve seen it out to half time, we knew they were going to come out fast the second half and we stood up to that again.

"The part that we just couldn’t do was then get a foothold in the game to control it a little bit more than we would have liked, but that’s understandable, it was such a huge game, there was so much on the line. One thing you weren’t going to see was us go under at any moment. We just stood up and everyone to a man, even the players coming on, everybody just put their body on the line for the club and I love playing in those games.

“It was incredible resilience. The lads have fallen below the standards a lot of the season, had some back luck, but they’re where they are. I’ve come into it late and we’ve had a great run, a bad result (against Blackburn Rovers) that we’ve bounced back from and the togetherness in the changing room is unbelievable, I’m just proud we went and got the result. Nothing’s done yet, we’ve just given ourselves a better chance, but we need to go again.”

Having gone six months without a success on their travels, the 1-0 victory meant Town have now picked up three wins from four outside of Bedfordshire, with the draw against Stoke City making it 10 points from a possible 12. The fact those triumphs have come against three of their relegation rivals too, Cardiff, Hull and now Derby, showcased to Naismith just how strong Luton’s character is.

With three play-off chasers to come, Bristol City next on Easter Monday, plus a home game with Coventry and then a trip to West Bromwich Albion, he added: “It’s a big thing to go and do but it tells you when the chips are down and the pressure’s on and you must win these games, you look about the changing room, and we’ve got players who just thrive on that and step up. Nothing’s done yet, but the other games are similar. They’re massive, but we’re going to look around the changing room and know we’ve got each other’s backs and we can be confident going into them.”