Town keeper on his pride at reaching 100 Luton appearances and a place in the Hatters' top 10 for clean sheets

Luton keeper James Shea admitted it was a hugely proud moment to not only reach his 100th appearance for the Hatters recently, but also enter the club’s top 10 list for clean sheets at the same time.

The 30-year-old, who moved to Kenilworth Road back in the summer of 2017, finally got to the milestone in the 4-0 win over Preston North End recently.

He also kept his 40th clean sheet during the contest as well, which saw him up to 10th in the all-time chart, moving above Ian Feuer and now sitting below Joe Coen in the rankings.

When asked if it meant something to finally make it to three figures, the former AFC Wimbledon stopper, who has been second choice to Simon Sluga for the majority of the last three seasons, said: “It does, don’t get me wrong, I’d have liked to have got there a bit quicker, but it is what it is.

“Whenever called upon, I’ll play and do my best for the team, to get to 100 games for a club like Luton is massive for me.

“I always thought I’d get to 100 at some point, I just didn’t know when.

“I think I was stuck on 98 for a few weeks as well, as I was playing and then I got left out, so when I got back in, I was over the moon."

Shea is some way off the all-time clean sheet holder for the Hatters, Mark Tyler, who racked up 119 from 297 outings, with the legendary England international Ron Baynham is next on 91 from 433 games.

However, catching up with some of the top 10 is possible, with Jake Findlay and Peter Platt in joint sixth on 50, with Keith Barber next on 45 and Joe Coen's record of 43 potentially beaten before May.

On being part of such an illustrious group, Shea continued: “It’s something to be very proud of, I’m not going to lie, but I want to get more, I want to get in the top five, I want to see how many I can get.

“That’s why it was a bit gutting that Hull scored with the last kick of the game, as I wanted to add another to it.

“I wanted it to be 41 in 101 games, which would have been even better, but I’d take 40 clean sheets in my time, hopefully I’ve got a few more left in me.”

Shea's disappointment at not getting a clean sheet during the 3-1 win at Hull City ahead of the international break was there for all to see, as when Tom Eaves poked home from close range with virtually the last kick, the keeper slammed the ground in frustration, with a number of his team-mates looking like the Hull attacker had won it for the hosts.

He added: "We didn’t want to concede, it’s a pride thing, especially me and the defence.

"It would have taken us to 17 clean sheets which is unbelievable, and on a personal note, I want to get as many clean sheets as I can.

"I’ve got a decent record and I want to keep that going."