Rooney tips Hatters to bounce back against Stags

Luton saw their long unbeaten run ended at Burton Albion last weekend as they were beaten for the first time in 11 League Two games.

However, they are back in front of their own fans, where Luton have won six on the trot in the league as Rooney said: “It’s the perfect chance to bounce back with a home game, that’s what you want.

“We’ve got a very good record here and everyone expects three points.”

Rooney had to view from the bench as Luton went down 1-0 to the Brewers, but he didn’t feel there was any major cause for concern.

The wideman continued: “Watching from the side, I think we’ve played worse and won games recently. There were a couple of games where we weren’t really the superior team, but we scored at the right times.

“ I felt the performance was better on Saturday than in three or four of the games when we were on the winning streak.

“There’s nothing to be disheartened about as Burton themselves have gone in front a lot of times this season and held on.”

Visitors Mansfield are expected to be led once more by caretaker boss and former Hatter Adam Murray this week, after parting company with Paul Cox recently.

In Murray’s first game, the Stags ended a nine game winless run by beating Plymouth Argyle 1-0, a scoreline they repeated at Concord Rangers in the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

Rooney said: “It worked for them on Saturday as they beat Plymouth who are one of the better teams we played and I think have conceded the least goals in the division.

“That was a big result for them and I don’t think many people would have had that on their coupon.”

Fellow winger Shaun Whalley doesn’t expect Luton to be affected by anything going on behind the scenes at Mansfield though as he said: “The gaffer said before, he doesn’t believe in new manager syndrome.

“I saw Paul Cox got the sack, but I don’t think that will have an affect on us, we’ll play our own game and see where it takes us.”

Keeper Mark Tyler is also confident his side will quickly get over the disappointment of the weekend and start another unbeaten run.

He added: “The first thing the gaffer said was we go again. We can’t replicate what we did last year, but 11 games is great in this league.

“We’ll be back in training and go all guns blazing. We want to keep our record at home as we’ve been outstanding there this season.”