Yates knew Luton would hit back from humbling Barnsley experience
Striker was confident that Town had put Tykes misery behind them
Luton striker Jerry Yates was confident that Town had given themselves every chance of putting their awful display at Barnsley behind them at the first possible chance when taking on Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.
The Hatters had seen their five game unbeaten run ended in brutal fashion at Oakwell on Saturday, thumped 5-0 by the Tykes, a result and performance that saw them come in for some real criticism from those fans who have made the trip to South Yorkshire. Going up against the Terriers just a few days later though, there was some concern over just what kind of Town would turn up, but they needn’t have worried, the hosts producing a far better display, particularly in the first half, Jake Richards deflected strike giving them the lead in a first half in which they were clearly the better side.
Although they were pegged back by Leon Castledine’s magnificent free kick just after the hour mark, Town dug deep and grabbed all three points shortly afterwards, Yates himself scoring what turned out to be the winner when sliding Lamine Fanne’s shot over the line. The summer signing spoke afterwards of how Town’s response at the Brache had been spot on when putting the weekend’s result behind them, saying: “It’s massive for the group, it’s massive for the group, but to be honest, I knew from after the final whistle, the lads, we knew we had to work hard Sunday, Monday to put things right and we did.
“You end up watching the game back and seeing where you went wrong. Listen, it did humble us as we went five unbeaten before that and maybe we got a bit too high, so obviously that result did knock us a bit, but the character within the group is massive, so we were buzzing to get the result. We’ve all aired whatever, not issues, but on Saturday we got that out of the way straight away, even the young lads stepped up and said their piece.
“Sunday we came in, all ears on what we needed to improve, what we needed to do and full concentration on to Huddersfield and gettting the job done. We addressed that all on Sunday, watched the game back, clips within the game, how we can do better. We moved on, we needed to put that right, all the lads showed a big character within the group and we ended up getting the result. It was a good bit of brilliance from them, the free kick, I don’t think many keepers will save that. Most teams might have crumbled after that, but we stuck to our guns and got the goal back.”
Eager to show the visitors that they were going to be in for a contest, Luton played in a far more direct style than they had done in their last home outing against Rotherham United, as they didn’t hold on to the ball in defence as much as they done, preferring to play in their opponents’ half. The tactics paid off too, as on the change in approach, Yates continued: “I think it was maybe, the first 15, 20 minutes, stick it on them a bit, see how they deal with our different style of play. We started fast, frantic, very tiring, but it worked and I’m sure it will work again in the future.
"It comes from everyone in the group, the back four, back five, held a high line. It was aggressive, we didn’t really let them get too many opportunities, so credit to every single one of the lads, they put in a great shift. They’re a top team, they’ve got some Championship quality players, they’re aspiring for the same goal as us, so it’s nice to get a victory over a team like that and maybe boost our confidence even more. We’ll forget about that now and move on to Bolton who are another good team.”
With Luton boss Jack Wilshere able to celebrate a first league win on home soil, the Town manager has now led the Hatters to five victories, one draw and two defeats from his eight matches to date in all competitions, as on how he has found the former Arsenal and England star, Yates added: “Brilliant. I’ve not got a bad word to say about anyone in that coaching staff.
"They’ve been unbelievable, they’ve brought a very positive mindset into the group. Maybe a style of play that’s a little different to the start of the season, so it’s a breath of fresh air. We know what we need to do now, he’s given us a lot of confidence. Listen, we’re going in the right direction, but we don’t get too high and don’t get too low, we know what we need to do.”