Passionate Naismith admits he struggled not to get too low after Lincoln 'disaster'

Skipper Kal Naismith admitted that it was exceptionally hard when trying to stick to the mantra made famous by former Town boss John Still of ‘never too high, never too low,’ following the Hatters’ woeful showing in their 3-1 defeat at Lincoln City recently.

With the 33-year-old restored to the starting line-up for the trip to the LNER Stadium having been on the bench for the two matches previously, he was powerless to prevent the visitors turning in without doubt their worst display of the campaign, as they were no match for the direct and powerful Imps, who brushed them aside, particularly in a terrible opening half an hour that saw the visitors jeered by their travelling supporters.

Those feelings of discontent continued after the full time whistle too, as Naismith, who returned to Kenilworth Road on a permanent basis in the summer, clearly taking things to heart in the following days, as although they were able to bounce back at the first attempt and beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0 on Saturday, asked how it was to remain balanced and keep to Still’s saying in the immediate aftermath, he said: “I love that saying as well, but it’s hard. I’m never sad really, but I never get too high, I’ve done some decent things in the game, but I never get too high.

“But when I’m low, it’s like your whole world, same with the fans, when they get low they get really low, that’s why I understand that it’s difficult not to get too low. Saturday night was a disaster, but then as the week went on, it was just we started feeling confident that we’re still in a good place, we’re still sticking together, we’ve got a real team spirit.

“You need to be tested, you need these tests to know if you’re really, really in it together and we’re in it together. It was everything, honestly, it consumed my whole week. All I was thinking about was we need to bounce back, we’ve got no other choice. Imagine if we had lost or got a bad result today, it would have been a bad spot to be in for us as players, management, everyone.

"So I’m just proud that everybody came together, had a real positive week and we got the result. It’s only one result, three points, but it’s something to go and build on. We showed a lot of bravery, courage, defending together as one, we ticked a lot of boxes, so I’m proud of the team.”

Having returned to Luton on a permanent basis and been given the captain’s armband in the summer, Naismith knew he too had to step up personally at the Brache in the week and rally a squad whose confidence took a huge hit following that defeat against the Imps. He continued: “It’s difficult, you put a lot on yourself, there’s that extra pressure, added pressure, but that’s what I wanted coming back.

"I wanted that pressure, I wanted people to turn to me in difficult times and it’s been hard as I’ve been low as well, but you’ve got to put that mask on, come into training, be positive, speak to the lads, tell them that we need a response. There’s no way about it, we’re low but we need a response.

"But I’ve got so many amazing staff members, amazing people in the changing room, and I knew through Monday, Tuesday, we’re in a good place. There’s nobody turning on each other here, we’re strong. I knew we were going to get a spirited performance. When you’re low it takes its time to come back, so I didn't expect us to go and blow them away three, four-nil, but I just wanted to make sure that we saw spirit, fight, determination. I think the fans saw that, that's the basic level we need to produce now.”

With Naismith’s close range header on 40 minutes sealing the victory, then although on paper a 1-0 success over the team who won League Two last term might not look like a massive achievement, the ex-Portsmouth and Bristol City player knew the significance of the result for those within the Luton squad, as he stated: “Honestly I felt it was huge. I went through so many emotions during the week. It feels like it’s the biggest game ever and in reality we’re nine games into the season. But for me as well, the leadership being questioned, it was like this game means so much to me, and I just want it to go well.

"So just to get the response and the win where we can build. We’ve still got so far to go, there’s 30-odd games left, but we need to do it now, there’s no use us not doing it and me sitting here and saying ‘there’s still time, there’s still time, there’s still time.’ We got a result today and we’ll keep building. We’re still growing, but no-one wants to hear that, we need to perform. The last two performances were nowhere near the level, this one was and we got the win.”

Although it was slightly nervier than it needed to be, Nahki Wells missing a penalty just after Naismith’s opener, which led to a scrappy second half that saw Doncaster almost snatch a late point when Luke Molyneux sliced wide in stoppage time, the doggedness and determination on display was something Naismith preferred to witness than a simple walk in the park.

He added: “The first half I felt we were solid, the gameplan was we need energy, play on the front foot, aggressive, everything we’ve spoken about that we’ve not done really. I felt out there we were in complete control, we’d done that, we were together, we were at it, I felt confident for a start. Then getting that goal, it was good to get the goal and Nahki’s unlucky with the penalty. It’s an unbelievable save to be fair, then who knows, if that had gone 2-0 it could have been three or four.

"But again, I almost feel with it being 1-0 and we weren’t great in the second half, let’s be honest, we had to dig in and fight and show that togetherness and team spirit. I almost feel that it’s better that we got to show that. We got to show the fans that and each other that we’re in it together when it is tough. We weren’t great second half, we know we’ve still got so much to improve on, it’s one result, but there’s positives there.

“Everybody to a man, no-one stood out in terms of performance or doing amazing with the ball, but to play for this club you need to do what we did today. You need to turn up at Blackpool and do it, you need to do it at Stevenage, you need to turn up every time, that’s what we’ve done, we were together, we fought. They’ve thrown players forward at the end, they have one up front, then they have two up front, then I turned and there was a centre half up there at one stage, Matt Pearson, but it just felt out there, we’re not concededing, we’re not going to concede, so we felt solid.”