Returning Naismith 'incredibly motivated' to make a success of his third spell with Luton

New Luton signing Kal Naismith has spoken about just how ‘incredibly motivated’ he is to help the Hatters return to the Championship this season.

The 33-year-old became Town’s first addition of the summer last week when he put pen to paper on a permanent deal at Kenilworth Road after his release from Bristol City. After his second spell with the club didn’t go how he wanted, the Hatters suffering relegation from the second tier having finished third bottom of the table following a last day 5-3 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, Naismith himself not playing as much as both he and Luton’s supporters wanted him to when joining on loan from the Robins, he has now set his sights on making sure he puts things right.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “I’m incredibly motivated, honestly, since a week after the season when I got rid of the disappointment and I knew I was coming back, I’m not finishing on that. This club gave me so much at a time when I needed it, when I left Wigan (in 2021), and then to bring me back again, I’m not finishing on that, so that's my whole aim now.

“I don't want to leave this club, but if I eventually do ever again, it’s I'm leaving on a high, I'm leaving on getting the club back where it belongs and I'm leaving on a positive. I’m so motivated to make this time when I'm at the club as special as possible and that starts now, doing my bits, getting as fit as I possibly can so the fans get the best version of me and I can help as much as possible.”

With Town not having Tom Lockyer last term as the club captain was still recovering from his heart attack and then also picking up an ankle injury too, it was levelled at the Hatters that they lacked real leadership on the pitch at times. It’s an attribute that Naismith clearly has in abundance and although he feels the squad does have the right characters in places, is something he is looking to use during the coming campaign, as he continued: “Honestly, the changing room is amazing.

"Coming into it it wasn’t like we were in the position we were in, it was such a positive and good place to be, so I’m just going to come in and by myself. There’s a lot of young lads in the team I can help. It’s more just everyday stuff. You don’t just get results by turning up on Saturday, it’s how you train, how you apply yourself, it’s just drilling that into the boys but we’ve got no bad pros here. They're all good lads, hopefully we can add to that and there'll be boys growing in confidence that finished the season strong.

"We've got a great squad and I’ll use my experience and know-how to help them along the way and they'll help me. I just want to get going now, I love training, it’s what I’ve done since I was a kid. I love being in that changing room environment, ultimately we've got a massive goal and a massive thing to aim towards as a group and I just want to get back in and get started now to be honest.”