Powell happy Luton have discovered the knack of winning late on

Town assistant boss Chris Powell hailed Luton for discovering the knack of scoring late goals as they kept up their push for the play-offs with a 2-1 victory over Barnsley on Saturday.

The Hatters had broken the deadlock on 16 minutes through Nahki Wells’ 10th of the season when he coolly converted from the penalty spot, only for Adam Phillips to quickly equalise. A nip and tuck second period saw neither side able to get their noses in front, on-loan midfielder Kasey Palmer sidefooting into the roof of the net from close range with 11 minutes to go, notching for the eighth time since arriving from Hull City in January.

It was the second home game in succession that Town needed a goal in the closing stages to triumph, Kal Naismith curling in a superb 30-yard free kick on 85 minutes against Northampton Town to deliver another crucial three points in their previous contest. They also did the same when reaching the Vertu Trophy final in February, scoring late goals against both Plymouth Argyle and the Cobblers once more.

On their ability to hold their nerve and grab victory, Powell told the club’s official website: “It was a very, very long day and fair play to the players, they’ve exerted themselves a lot over these past few weeks. One good trait we’re beginning to have is scoring quite late and still having the belief to score late on in games. We did it at home to Northampton, again today, so fair play to everyone, they really put a shift in and got the three points I felt we deserved just in the end.

"There were two games at lunch time (Stevenage and Stockport both playing), but it’s about what we did at three o’clock. A tricky game, Barnsley at home, nothing to lose, in the middle of the table, but they still caused us one or two problems. I felt in the main we dealt with that. I thought there were a be little bit of nerves which is understandable, but they’ve been led well by Kal (Naismith) and senior players have really produced.”

Palmer’s winner also meant Town scored two goals in a game for the ninth time in 10 matches, which was something that the Hatters were struggling with earlier on in the year, particularly away from home, when they only found the net just once in five fixtures. Powell was happy to see just how much his side have improved, as he continued: “We’ve won a lot of games by the odd goal and I think the difference sometimes is the fans. What I like about the fans is from when we first came in to now, they can see what we’re trying to do.

"They’ve bought into the way Jack (Wilshere) wants the team to play and one thing about him is he’s steadfast. He’s said ‘this is my team, this is how we’re going to play’, that’s the reason why he’s got the job, and the players have bought into it, the fans have now. We’ve seen how many shots on goal we’ve had, there’s not too many clean sheets for my liking and the manager’s and especially Kev Pilkington (head of goalkeeping), but we’re working on that.

"We can create chances, we can score goals and like today, it was a real lift for everyone that in a nervy game we can still come out on top. We’ve had some big experiences this year with the Vertu Cup run, the Plymouth night, the Northampton night, then Northampton in the league, the Vertu final and then going to Rotherham knowing we have to win. We’ve been picking up some real clever, good results, as they’ve been putting it all out there the players.”

The result saw Luton win eight games from 10 in all competitions, as they have now taken 23 points from 27 to lift themselves up to seventh in the table. The turnaround from a run of no wins from six during February and March hasn’t been lost on Powell, who said: “Since we’ve come in, the players as a group and individually, they really push each other on. There’s a lot of belief in what Jack’s trying to implement and we support him in that as staff, but really what the players are doing week in week out. When you look at what they’ve been producing, unbeaten in 11 now, just one defeat in 16, that’s some going and it’s put us in the position.”

Another thing that Town have done is make Kenilworth Road an incredibly hard place for opposition teams to come and play, losing just once at home in their last 17 league contests, with 10 wins. Powell was pleased to see Town’s stadium giving the squad the kind of benefit he expected when arriving in October, which has seen his post-match celebrations now becoming more and more regular after the full time whistle.

He said: “I try and do it at every club as I think it’s important that they have a connection with us. Obviously they get it with the players, but I think it’s important that they recognise that the staff are with them and we recognise what it’s like for them. We know when we don’t perform, we don’t mean to do it, but we can always come back. I always say, on the longest journey you’re going to get punched in the stomach, you’re going to get setbacks, but as long as we’re together you can overcome them and I think you can see that.

"I’ve got the fist pump and it’s great to have that as I know what it’s like to be a fan. I know that they work all week and their release is coming to the Kenny and wanting to see us win and we’ve made it a bit of a fortress now. I’ve got to say when I was at other clubs coming here, I always felt this is going to be a tough game. No matter who’s in charge you felt like Luton was a real tough arena to play in and we’ve kind of made it that now.”

Luton now head to Bolton on Saturday for their final game of the season, knowing that a win might see them finish above the dotted line, but only if other results go their way. It led Powell to add: “We’ve got a clear week and that’s important for us in our preparations. We’ve still got to believe in what can happen, this game has a funny way of turning things in your favour when you least expect it.

"I think the momentum is with us, but of course we still have to complete a real tough mission away at Bolton, but one thing for sure is we’ll be ready for it. What’s good is we’re in a good position where we’ve got nothing to lose. Of course we’d rather be in the top six right now, but actually we can still get there and we’re still chasing down two or three teams. Hopefully we can have a good week and get ourselves ready for what is a massive game at Bolton.”