Hatters defender urges Luton to become ‘nasty’ and ‘horrible’ again
Luton defender Reece Burke has demanded the Hatters get back to being ‘horrible’ and ‘nasty’ to play against after Saturday’s woeful 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United.
Town travelled to the Blades looking to end their two-game winless run, but at no point in the contest did that ever look like happening, the visitors failing to lay a glove on their opponents during the 90 minutes at Bramall Lane. The result means Luton are now fourth bottom of the table, having picked up just eight points from nine games, as Burke said: “I’m sure the gaffer is going to go away and look at it, but we need to be horrible to play against. At the moment we’re being too nice. We need to start fighting and showing some fight in games, winning our duels, one v ones all over the pitch, second balls and getting in opposition faces as that’s how we used to be and that’s how the fans used to love watching it.
“That’s why it’s frustrating, especially from the fans point of view as I’m sure they know we’ve got a good team. I know we’ve got a good team, we’ve got good players and we shouldn’t be in the position that we are now, but we need to start doing the basics well as I think we’ve been too nice to play against recently. The main thing for us is trying to keep positive, being negative and keeping our heads down isn’t going to change anything.”
Having finished a Premier League campaign with a run of just one win from 17 matches, Town have now carried on that form into the Championship campaign, as their last 26 league games have seen them triumphing just three times, taking 15 points out of a possible 78. However, Burke believes it will only take one good display to start to turn things around, as asked if there was still a hangover from the top flight, he added: “I wouldn’t say that necessarily.
“The Premier League coming to the end was quite tough and it is bad form that seems to have carried on to this season, but I can only say we’re going to work hard and try and change that. What we’re missing is a good team performance and a comfortable win. Once we get that, I think the belief and confidence within the changing room will be better going into future games, and I’m sure we will pick up.”
