Town boss hails important Pompey point after sensing the 'frustration' following Clarets loss

Hatters boss Rob Edwards was happy to see his side dig in for a point at Portsmouth on Saturday after admitting he had sensed the frustration amongst some supporters following the opening night defeat to Burnley.

Luton had begun their efforts to earn an instant promotion back to the Premier League with a 4-1 loss to the Clarets, themselves a top flight team last term, at Kenilworth Road on Monday evening, a game in which the injury-hit hosts gave three teenagers their full league debuts in Reuell Walters, Zack Nelson and Joe Johnson. With the visitors running up a hefty victory, Town then headed to Fratton Park at the weekend for a game that most would have had down as an away win beforehand, especially as Edwards could recall Amari’i Bell and Jordan Clark to the starting XI.

The Hatters made a bright start too, Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo both denied in the opening exchanges by home keeper Will Norris, but Luton’s hopes were given an almighty blow when Belgian international Thomas Kaminski was dismissed with just 35 minutes gone after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for delaying a goal kick and the second for a foul on Connor Ogilvie as he came flying out of his area.

Town then had to show a defensive solidity they have struggled with in recent months, which was understandable to the level of opposition, but the visitors managed it on the south coast, earning a first clean sheet since January, with Teden Mengi in particular outstanding, as was summer signing Reuell Walters, the returning Bell impressing too.

It ensured Town picked up their first point of the season and gave the away following of over 2,000 something to be enthused about, which was much needed for Edwards, as he said: “What was really important after Monday as I sensed there’s frustration around and even the questions I’m getting in the pressers, I understand it, we conceded four goals, we’re in the Championship now, the expectation’s high, but it was important for those travelling fans to see a team that’s working hard for each other, that’s learning from mistakes, putting things into practise and I think they saw all of that today.

"They saw a team that’s fighting under pressure, stuck together, performed really well, with 11 men, brilliantly, could have scored, with 10, a different side to us. That was important that they saw that as that rapport with the supporters, as we know, is going to be key this year.”

Although some fans on social media went overboard with their reaction to the defeat earlier in the week, Edwards felt it had been important not to get too down on things himself, maintaining his immediate impression that bar a few errors which were clinically punished, the overall performance wasn’t by any means a disastrous one. He continued: “The result was, but it wasn’t all bad.

"We got some stuff wrong when we were pressing. We got some covering positions wrong which we did well today, and then when we got into positions to go and speed the game up, we weren’t able to go at them. We didn’t, we chose to turn them down and be a bit slow which is not us, it’s never us. Today we showed, especially with 11 men, we showed that. So those two things we didn’t do well on Monday, we did those well with 11 men today and then we did the defensive stuff well with 10 as well.

"Monday I was really frustrated and disappointed with the result, as everyone was, but it’s not all bad. My job is to try and keep a level and football’s so emotional, of course there’ll be anger and upset and all that sort of stuff. I don’t look at anything, but you can sense it. Today was important, I think everyone off the back of that I’ll see a really good performance, a cohesive team, a team that’s fighting for each other. I know we didn’t win, but it was a good day for us and I can probably sleep easier than I have done since Monday.”

Although Town decided to move both of their academy graduates, Nelson and Johnson, back to the bench at the weekend, Edwards hopes that by giving the pair their opportunity against the Clarets, it will spur those more experienced within the squad to push even harder for a place, adding: “It’s not just the lads that didn’t start, I want to see more from everybody.

"The lads on the pitch (against Burnley) as well will admit that we need more. I cannot fault the young lads at all and on the night maybe some of our senior players will say, yes I could have been better on certain instances there. Some of the lads on the pitch and the lads who weren’t involved, or didn’t come on as well. We’re always striving for more and driving the players to try and get more and improve, that will always be the case.”