Naismith unsurprised to see Luton forced to dig in to end their winless run

Luton defender Kal Naismith was unsurprised to see Town having to dig in to finally end their lengthy winless run when beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

The Hatters had enjoyed the better of the first half, going ahead through Jordan Clark’s fourth goal of the season on 25 minutes and almost grabbing a second when Alfie Doughty’s low drive was deflected away, Clark himself putting another attempt too close to visiting stopper Nicolas Schmid. With Pompey, who picked up three bookings in the opening 45 minutes for rash tackles, barely threatening themselves, that all changed in the second 45 when John Mousinho's side came out strongly.

Substitute Kaide Gordon made a real difference, the Liverpool loanee, enjoying plenty of freedom on the right flank as Portsmouth looked to get the ball to him as often as possible, with Town finding themselves having to weather some sustained and prolonged pressure. Although the Hatters were able to breakaway at times, Clark dragging wide and Izzy Jones blasting over, the majority of the half was spent defending their own goal.

They did so impressively, until almost being breached with four minutes left when Christian Saydee’s inch-perfect cross was asking to be headed in by Conor Ogilvie, only for the ex-Spurs youngster to nod over from six yards out. Naismith himself almost conceded a penalty when the ball struck his arm during stoppage time, but the two let-offs meant that Town’s defence, was able to claim a second clean sheet in five games on home soil, as Luton secured a maiden victory of manager Matt Bloomfield’s reign, and also a first win since December 20, climbing off the bottom of the table in the process.

It was no surprise to the on-loan defender, who marshalled his side superbly once more, that the Hatters had to battle and scrap their way over the line, as he said: “It’s huge and when you’ve been in a run like we have you’re never going to come and blow a team away two, three, four, you’re just not. The confidence levels they’re a little bit down as we’re just fighting for our lives, but that’s what you see, you see that fight, the determination.

"I almost like it better as a centre half. I love to play football as everybody knows, but the wins when you dig in, you’re under the cosh, you fight and you get the blocks in. Eli (Elijah Adebayo) comes on at the end, and he mullers one against the keeper, I just love it, that passion and desire to say it’s 1-0 and we are not getting beat today. It feels good, it’s an amazing result. It is only that, it’s only one result, we’ve still got a long way to go but it gives us something to build on and we can grow from here.”

Since Naismith has come in, he has earned some high praise from manager Bloomfield and his team-mates for the manner in which is leading Town’s back-line and using his experience and leadership skills built up from making over 400 appearances during his 14-year career as a professional. It’s something that he is eager to do, but also feels the rest of the side are helping him out, as the centre back added: “We've got it all over the pitch.

"Big Carlton (Morris) sets the standards, Tom Lockyer also sets the standard to be honest. He's been in and spoken to us before the Watford game, he's around the place, Locks is just an absolutely hero of a man and then you’ve got Carlton, you’ve got Clicker (Jordan Clark), big Macca (Mark McGuinness) when he was playing, his voice is loud. Amari’i (Bell) next to me, you look all over the pitch, Alfie Doughty, there’s too many to go through.

"You just look and they’re solid, I know Amari’i’s looking after himself, I know big Carlton’s battling, everyone’s there, so all over the pitch we've got it. It helps me in my game when I’m talking, it keeps me switched on. It’s always been natural to me, but it’s good to see other players as well. Walshy (Liam Walsh) in front of me, he’s playing games and he's such a huge player for us. His voice and he's shouting at me, he's telling me to squeeze up and I need that. I need players to push me as well and we’ve got it all over the pitch.”