New Luton boss supremely confident he can achieve his first target of Championship survival with the Hatters

New Luton manager Matt Bloomfield has set his immediate sights on making sure the Hatters are still in the Championship next season and is more than confident they will be able to achieve that under his stewardship.

After being appointed yesterday, the 40-year-old takes over a side who have struggled massively on their return to the second tier this term after a campaign in the Premier League ended in relegation. Ahead of Saturday’s match with Preston North End, Town are a worrying 20th in the table, just two points above the drop zone and only four away from rock bottom Plymouth Argyle after the Pilgrims’ 1-1 draw against Oxford United last night.

They are also currently on a confidence-sapping sequence of four straight defeats, plus 10 straight losses in a row on the road, a stat which ultimately proved to be the end of former boss Rob Edwards’ tenure in charge. With Bloomfield coming from a Wycombe Wanderers side who have been the polar opposite this year, albeit in League One, winning 15 from 25 matches, only tasting defeat on four occasions, putting together a 19-match unbeaten run at one point, then asked what his first goal is in his new surroundings, he said: “I think picking up some results and building some momentum going into the summer.

"We want to survive first and foremost, we understand where we are in the league, we understand what’s contributed to the team being in the position where they are right now, but we have big belief. Again, I need to reiterate, I wouldn't have left my job at Wycombe to walk into something I didn’t believe could be a success.

"I actually believe we can be a success here, so it’s about picking up some results, building an identity, start to put some building blocks in place, start to get some momentum moving into the summer. The club has high aspirations, there’s a really exciting future and vision here and we want to play a big part in that.”

On why he thinks the Hatters have struggled to replicate the kind of form that saw them not only reach the Premier League, but then give staying up a real go until injuries caught them out, Bloomfield continued: “Without trying to be too flippant, I think we’ve conceded too many goals and not scored enough, that’s been the two stand-out stats from the season so far. We need to tighten up from conceding too many goals and try and create more opportunities from open play at the other end.

"They’re the two main focuses of our attention in the immediate future. To win football matches we need to carry a threat at the top end of the pitch, we need to make sure we’re solid at the back, that sounds obvious I know, but those are the two areas we need to focus our attention on. Some of the other bits can wait to further down the line as we can’t overload the players with too much information right away.

"There’s some things we can go after right now and some things we need to implement on a more longer term basis. So it’s about creating an environment that they feel comfortable working in, some clarity in the way we’re going to go about our business and implement that on a pitch on a Saturday and a Tuesday evening and trying to pick up some results as quickly as we possible can.”

Although he only has 20 games of the season to get things right at Kenilworth Road, and just a few days before undertaking three of them in a challenging week as after Preston’s visit to Bedfordshire, Luton head to Oxford United next Tuesday evening and entertain Millwall the following Saturday. Discussing his belief that he can get his methods across quickly, Bloomfield added: “Results will show us whether we get that right straight away or whether it will take a bit longer, but I do believe that we can implement it quickly, I absolutely believe that, if not I wouldn’t have left my previous job to come and do this here.

"I believe in what we have in our building. I believe in the work that we can go and do with the group, some very good footballers here who have obviously been on the wrong end of a few defeats this season, and we hope that if we can implement the work quickly, bring a bit of a freshness about the building that we can get off to a good start.”