Luton Town

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Luton boss Matt Bloomfield has promised to "be careful" with Reece Burke as the centre-back looks for minutes on the pitch following a lengthy injury lay-off.

Burke returned as an 87th minute substitute in the 2-1 win at Cardiff City on 11 March, his first game back after suffering a quad injury in November, but was unused against Middlesbrough before the international break.

He will be hoping for another opportunity against former club Hull City on Saturday, when fellow defender Kal Naismith will also be hoping to get onto the pitch having recently served a one-match ban following his red card at Burnley.

"[They have] great experience, fantastic knowhow - obviously Burkey's been out for a while, so we have to be careful with him, we can't over-expose him to too many minutes but he's been a key player for this football club and we expect him to be so again," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"Kal was unfortunate he lost his place because of the sending off, but he's chomping at the bit and he's ready to go."

There is also promising news about Teden Mengi, who had surgery on a knee injury suffered in training in December.

"Teden is now starting to join in a little bit with the group. He's not ready to take in games just yet, he's not in full training yet, but he's done a little bit," Bloomfield added.

Midfielder Tahith Chong is back in full training though and could make his first appearance since early January against Hull.

Luton Town make the trip to fellow strugglers Hull City on Saturday lunch time (12:30 GMT) as they look for much needed points.

The Hatters currently reside in the relegation zone, four points away from safety and with only bottom dwellers Plymouth Argyle with a lower goal difference.

All three points will prove mighty beneficial to Luton, but they will need to defeat a Tigers side that have not lost any of their past four league games (W2 D2) and looking to clear away from the threat of relegation themselves.

• Hull City are winless across their prior six league games against Luton Town (D1 L5), scoring just one goal in total across that time.

• Luton Town are unbeaten across their last five away league games against Hull City (W4 D1), keeping four clean sheets in the process.

• Hull are unbeaten across their last four league games (W2 D2), the Tigers' longest streak since a six-game spell in April 2024.

• Luton have won two of their last four league games (D1 L1), as many victories as across their prior 18 matches combined (D4 L12).

• Luton's Carlton Morris has won more aerial duels than any other player in the Championship this season (177), though has also lost more aerial duels than any other player in the competition too (171).

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Luton boss Matt Bloomfield says Hatters midfielder Thelo Aasgaard looks at home on the international stage.

The 22-year-old, signed from Wigan Athletic in the January transfer window, scored and provided an assist on his senior Norway debut in their World Cup qualifying win in Moldova on Saturday night.

He lined up in midfield alongside Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard and behind Manchester City's Erling Haaland as Norway ran-out 5-0 winners in Group I.

"Thelo is a top performer. We know that," Bloomfield told the club website, external. "He's someone who we believe can go on even further in the game and I think what he's shown for us already is glimpses of that.

"He's been great, receives in tight areas and can knit the game together for us, which we love.

"He's gone away, in elite company and he looks like he's right at home. It was lovely to sit and watch his game at the weekend."

Meanwhile, Izzy Jones became the first Luton player to score a hat-trick for his country when he scored all three in Guyana's 3-2 Concacaf Gold Cup win over Guatemala on Friday night.

Bloomfield added: "Since we've gone to three at the back and Izzy's been wing-back, his form has been fantastic – he's really got the bit between his teeth.

"We knew he was a top performer for the level and I think it was probably a big move for him coming down from Middlesbrough, moving his family down and it took him a couple of games to adapt, but I think he looks in great form.

"He's gone away and got himself some goals and we hope he can carry that form through to Saturday at Hull."

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Luton Town boss Matt Bloomfield declined to put a number on how many points he thinks they need to stay up as the club prepare to return to Championship action.

The Hatters are 23rd, four points from safety, the same number they achieved from their last two games before the international break.

They take on Hull City on Saturday and will be without Jacob Brown, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season, while Amari'i Bell picked up a knock with the Jamaica national squad.

"Historically, there's usually a figure that's round about the mark (needed), but different seasons that goes up and down slightly," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We just have to make sure we attack every game individually but with an understanding of what the season may look like.

"If we keep doing what we can do, we believe we can get to the figure that we're going to need."

The average points achieved by teams staying up over the last five seasons in 21st place is 46.8 - Plymouth managed 51 points last season, Cardiff City 49 in 2023, but Reading only needed 41 to beat the drop in 2022.

Luton currently have 35 with eight games left to play.

Geoff Doyle
BBC 3CR sports editor

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Luton are likely to need four wins from their last eight games to avoid relegation.

On the evidence of the season so far that ratio looks unlikely, but the good news is the Hatters are playing better now than they have done for the previous seven months.

They should've won against Middlesbrough on Saturday to follow up a crucial victory at Cardiff before that.

With players returning from injury Matt Bloomfield is going to have a much better squad than the one he inherited when he arrived in January.

Kal Naismith and Reece Burke are good additions to an already tighter defence. It's up the other end where Luton now need to improve to stay up.

Carlton Morris has been playing with an injury which could be a reason why he hasn't scored in the last three months.

Elijah Adebayo's form all season has been even more of a head scratcher when you consider how good he was so many times last season against the very best defenders in the Premier League - he hasn't scored since 10 December.

Both are lacking confidence as you would expect and both have missed big chances recently. Luton do have back-up but Jacob Brown has never really been considered a prolific scorer and Lasse Nordas is new to both the Championship and English football.

This is the conundrum Bloomfield has to figure out. Does he persist with the two regular strikers in the hope that their form will eventually turn or does he have to try a different combination? The Hatters need their strikers to start firing.

In these remaining eight matches Luton are up against sides who are either battling relegation or aiming for promotion. Games are likely to be tight and tense affairs.

Luton have got to hold their nerve and produce the type of form that they showed under Nathan Jones in 2020 when they won four and drew three of their last eight games to stay up.

All of Luton's traditional values of work, fight, passion and hunger will be required to stop a second successive relegation.

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Luton Town goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski says his side's performance in the 0-0 draw at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday should give them confidence in their bid to stay in the Championship.

The Hatters dominated play-off hopefuls Boro but wasteful finishing meant they were unable to turn one point into three as they remain in the relegation places, now four points from safety following Cardiff's win at Blackburn.

"I think if we play that game a couple of times, you win it," Kaminski told BBC Radio Three Counties.

"Defensively and organisation-wise we did well. Obviously the boys will be frustrated at not scoring but the performance was really, really good and we have to get the momentum going.

"I think it is a positive. We didn't lose against a good opposition.

"If you perform like that, come on, that has to give us confidence."

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Luton Town boss Matt Bloomfield was left both "proud" and "frustrated" after seeing his side fail to beat Middlesbrough in their scoreless Championship encounter at Kenilworth Road.

The Hatters seized control in a blistering start, finishing the game with 19 attempts on goal.

Boro managed just seven throughout, none of which were clear chances and they ended the match without an attempt on target to show for their efforts

"The performance was excellent," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio. "Some of the football we played and the chance creation was fantastic.

"I am very proud and we need to understand the quality of the opposition we played and how we have dominated the game. We should be celebrating a win.

"We came out of the traps quick. We played our formation incredibly well. Tactically the boys were spot on and they implemented what we discussed.

"There were top performances out there. We created chance after chance and played some very good football. It's incredibly frustrating we didn't take one.

"Defensively we were excellent. We limited Middlesbrough to very little and they are as good as we will play in the league. If we carry on playing like that we will pick up plenty of points."

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Luton Town are showing signs of recovery, according to boss Matt Bloomfield.

The Hatters have won two of their past three Championship matches to move within two points of safety with nine matches remaining.

"It's about changing mindsets - we've spoken about the psychological side of it a lot since we've been here, and I think we are seeing those green shoots of optimism," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We are seeing some habits changing, tactical understanding is improving, and we have to keep improving those things to get the results we need."

Luton were 2-1 winners at Cardiff on Tuesday, and beat Portsmouth in their previous home match, and Bloomfield said Kenilworth Road can play a big part when they host Middlesbrough on Saturday.

"I think we've been playing well at home recently, getting the crowd in the game who have been excellent for us, really backing the players and roaring us on.

"We believe in ourselves, we believe in what we're doing, we believe in the group we've got, and we have to attack the game."

Luton Town will start the day two points adrift of Championship safety when they face play-off chasing Middlesbrough on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Hatters have won two of their past three league games, while Boro have won three out of four to reignite their hopes of a top-six finish.

• Luton are unbeaten in their past seven home league games against Middlesbrough (W4 D3) since losing 1-0 back in October 1974.

• Middlesbrough are looking to complete a league double over Luton Town for the first time since the 1973-74 campaign under Jack Charlton.

• Luton Town have won five of their past 11 home league games (D3 L3) and haven't conceded more than one goal in any of those 11 at Kenilworth Road.

• Middlesbrough have lost five of their past six away league matches, winning the other 3-1 against Stoke City in February.

• Tommy Conway has scored six goals in his past 10 away league appearances for Middlesbrough.

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Luton Town are gelling and becoming a team, according to midfielder Thelo Aasgaard.

The Norwegian scored his first goal for the club in Tuesday's Championship win at Cardiff, having arrived from Wigan Athletic in January.

"It's hard to sum up in words but it's an unbelievable result and the lads carried out the game plan really well," Aasgaard told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We knew before it was a big game but we approached it really calmly and even going 1-0 down we showed great character to stay in it and show our quality in the end."

The Hatters' second victory in their past three games moves them to within two points of safety and Aasgaard feels they have shown they are more than capable of escaping the drop.

"The message at half-time was to 'go for it, believe in yourselves'. We got the ball in the final third but it wasn't quite there with the final pass, final cross and so it was to believe in ourselves a bit more and we did.

"If you get too emotionally attached during a game you can get too down but we were really calm and there's such great character in this group, we're gelling really well and we're really becoming a team now and have picked up some important wins."

Luton host eighth-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Cardiff City host Luton Town in the Championship on Tuesday night (19:45 GMT) with both sides desperately in need of points in their battle to avoid relegation.

The Welshmen are four points clear of the drop zone and five ahead of their opponents but have won just one of their past seven league games.

Luton are second from bottom and have lost 10 of their past 14 Championship matches with just one victory.

• Cardiff City have lost each of their past two home league games against Luton Town and will be looking to avoid losing three in succession to the Hatters for the first time.

• Luton Town have won each of their past four league games against Cardiff City, three of which have come via a 1-0 score line.

• Cardiff City suffered their first home league loss of 2025 against Burnley in their last such match, but have scored in each of their previous seven league games on home soil.

• Luton have won four of their past five league trips to Wales (L1), though their only defeat in that time did come at Swansea earlier this season, suffering a 2-1 defeat in December.

• Cardiff's Callum Robinson has been involved in five goals in his past four home league starts for the Bluebirds (4 goals, 1 assist).

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Defender Mark McGuinness makes his first return to Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday night (19.45 GMT) since leaving for Luton Town last summer.

McGuinness made one appearance for the Bluebirds in the League Cup this season - opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers - before signing for the Hatters in August.

The 24-year-old returns to Cardiff for a crucial relegation battle, with just five points separating City in 21st and current club Luton two places below.

Former Cardiff boss Mick McCarthy notably predicted the Republic of Ireland international would go on to be a "really good player" for Cardiff after signing him from Arsenal in 2021.

McCarthy also claimed McGuinness would be worth "a hell of a lot of money" in the future.

The first claim proved correct, with McGuinness becoming a commanding presence in Cardiff's defence during his three-year spell at the club, making more than 80 appearances.

He was somewhat surprisingly sent on loan to Sheffield Wednesday for the first half of the 2022-23 season, before regaining his place in the Cardiff team thanks to his impressive form at Hillsborough.

Whether he has proved to be worth a lot of money is less clear, though Luton claimed his move to Kenilworth Road was for a "significant undisclosed fee".

McGuinness has started all but five of Luton's 36 league matches this season, scoring three times for a side battling to avoid back-to-back relegations from the Premier League to League One.

The Hatters are second-bottom of the Championship having won only one of their past 14 league games.

They'll arrive in South Wales on the back of a 4-0 defeat at Burnley, with Luton and Cardiff sharing the second worst defensive record in the division.

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Luton Town hope to have Reece Burke in the squad for Tuesday's away game against Cardiff City following an injury-disrupted season.

The centre-back missed the opening four games of the campaign, and then suffered a quad injury against Leeds United in November which has kept him out ever since.

"We will see with Burkey, the best case will be with him on the bench. We can't let our situation or circumstances dictate whether we rush someone back if they're not quite ready," boss Matt Bloomfield told the club website, external.

"Burkey's been ill and that's knocked him back a bit but he had a big training session on Saturday and we'll see how he's reacted. But as I say, we've got to be careful, we need to make sure he's right."

The Hatters will be without suspended Kal Naismith following his 19th-minute sending off in Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Burnley.

Cardiff are the team immediately above the relegation places and Luton are in urgent need of what would be only their second win on the road this season to close a five-point gap to their opponents.

"We've got to be ready to perform. Their home form is decent, they're a good team and it will be a tough assignment but we'll hitting it with positivity," Bloomfield said.

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Luton Town boss Matt Bloomfield refused to blame Kal Naismith after the on-loan defender was sent off in their 4-0 defeat at Burnley.

Bloomfield had described the centre-back as "integral" in the build-up to the game, bringing valuable experience to their squad.

But he only lasted until the 19th minute at Turf Moor before two yellow cards saw him make an early return to the changing room.

"Kal's disappointed, understandably so. He's an experienced boy, he knows the game but I'm not going to criticise him. He's been excellent since we signed him," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"For the first 18 minutes I thought we were excellent, our shape was very good and our discipline, and there were a few turnover moments when we were able to hit Burnley on the counter-attack.

"But with 10 men it was always going to be a very tough afternoon for us. In my opinion, the first one wasn't a yellow, it was right in front of me and he gets the ball.

"I'm proud of the way we kept going with 10 men, it would have been easy second half to go under and the boys stood up to be counted, they were fighting and we have to recognise that irrespective of the result."

Luton continue their fight against a second successive relegation on Tuesday night, away to Cardiff City.

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Luton Town boss Matt Bloomfield said January loan signing Kal Naismith is "integral" to the side as they attempt to avoid relegation from the Championship.

The 33-year-old first joined the Hatters in January 2021 before moving to Bristol City in May 2022, but he returned to Kenilworth Road until the end of this season.

Naismith has made three starts at the centre of a back three, and helped Luton keep their first clean sheet in eight games - and first win in 13 - in the 1-0 win over Portsmouth last Saturday.

Luton, who are 22nd and five points from safety, make the trip to promotion-chasing Burnley on Saturday (15:00 GMT) for their first of three games in seven days.

"I try and make the right choices as I see fit," Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio, external when asked if Naismith could feature in every game this week.

"It's the only way to do it. Kal is integral to us. He's a huge player, a huge character.

"He's been incredible since he's come through the door and if he can play 90 minutes of all three, then great.

"And if he can't, then we will make the right decisions along the way."

The Clarets have conceded one goal in their past13 games and are unbeaten in 17 at Turf Moor this season - a record which Bloomfield described as "excellent".

"But I'm also a big believer that you have to play the game in front of you," he added.

"We have to attack the game and believe that we can win it. We do. We know it's going to be a tough game but we will be attacking it and believing in what we're trying to do."

Streaks came to their conclusion for Burnley and Luton Town over the past week.

The Clarets were unable to find a 13th successive clean sheet after conceding to Cardiff City on Tuesday.

While Hatter boss Matt Bloomfield found his first win with the club since his appointment in January, defeating fellow relegation battlers Portsmouth 1-0 at the weekend.

But will it be business as usual when the two sides face off at Turf Moor on Saturday (15:00 GMT)?

• Burnley are unbeaten across their last nine league games against Luton Town (W5 D4), winning the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road 4-1 in August last year.

• Luton Town are unbeaten across their last eight league visits to Turf Moor to face Burnley (W3 D5), since a 2-1 defeat in March 1995.

• Burnley have kept six consecutive league clean sheets at Turf Moor. The Clarets last had a longer run without conceding between November 1946 and February 1947 (eight).

• Luton Town have lost 20 of their last 23 away league matches (W1 D2), including 13 of their last 14 on the road. The Hatters have lost the most away games in the Championship this season (14).

• Jaidon Anthony has three assists in his last two Championship appearances at Turf Moor for Burnley. He has only ended on the losing side in one of his 35 home starts in the Championship for Bournemouth, Leeds and the Clarets, the lowest percentage of defeats for any player who has started more than 20 home games in Championship history since 2004-05 (3%).