Mpanzu hopeful of another chance against Lincoln

Town midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu is hoping to get another chance to prove himself against Lincoln City at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.
Town midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action on his recall to the side against Port ValeTown midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action on his recall to the side against Port Vale
Town midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action on his recall to the side against Port Vale

The 23-year-old, who had only started one league game since being sent off in the 1-0 win over Chesterfield on September 23, was recalled to the side for the trip to Port Vale at the weekend, as boss Nathan Jones made four changes.

The move backfired though, with Town heavily beaten 4-0 as Mpanzu said: “It doesn’t look good on me, doesn’t look good on anyone who’s come in, Lawson (D’Ath) and El (Elliot Lee) and Harry (Cornick) all came in too.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s a tough one, but obviously, hopefully, Monday all of us get another chance, or whatever the gaffer does, we have to agree with it and hopefully get back in the team.

“The gaffer assembled a good squad here, we’ve got good players to come in, come out, and deal with that.”

On the much-changed side that took to the field against Vale after thrashing Swindon 5-0 on Boxing Day, Mpanzu continued: “It depends how you take it.

“If we won, no-one would be saying that, but we’ve lost and people might ask questions, ‘did the gaffer do this? Did the gaffer do that?’

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But people coming in you’ve got to perform and we didn’t perform.”

Mpanzu had been a first team regular prior to his dismissal against the Spireites and admitted it has been tough watching on from the bench in recent games.

He said: “The team has been winning, so I haven’t got any complaints.

“It was good to get back on the pitch and put a performance in, it wasn’t the best, but hopefully I get more opportunities later on in the season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The season is only half way done, so we’ve got the rest of the year to hopefully cement our positions back again or just keep trying hard.

“You’ve got to tell the gaffer, ‘pick me every week,’ so every time you set foot on the pitch, you’ve got to perform.

“Today, we weren’t at our best, but hopefully on Monday we can perform again.”

Hatters were easily second best at Vale Park, as although the visitors found striker Tom Pope unplayable at times, they hit the self destruct button defensively in the second period.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: “The gaffer did point him out and he had a good game. Sometimes players are on their game, on their job and he was on his job.

“I can’t remember all the goals, but it wasn’t like they’ve carved us open, they’ve picked us apart. It was few errors here and there, so we’ve got to try and eradicate them for Monday.

“It was a blip in our season today, yes it is a shame, but everyone’s got to stick together, stuff happens, we’ve got to move on from today and go to Monday.

“We’ve got a great group of boys, everyone’s together, so we won’t get on each other’s back and go again Monday.”