Brabin’s still nuts about keeper KP

Competition for the number one jersey is fierce at the moment and, although Pilkington made a couple of questionable decisions in that victory, his boss backed him to the hilt.

He said: “I’m sure Pilks, who has been a real stellar performer for us of late, will be disappointed with one or two decisions he has made today.

“But I just want competition right throughout the side. We want that right up the pitch.

“One thing I want is competition and I keep saying that. Mark Tyler’s been excellent and he’s responded the way I wanted. At the same time, I’m probably not giving nothing away, but Mark Tyler made a mistake at Ebbsfleet away and it wasn’t highlighted and we’ve made a decision to freshen things up which has got us back on the front foot a little bit.

“I’m certainly not dismissing Mark Tyler, but at the same time I think Kevin Pilkington would feel it’s job done because it’s another clean sheet.”

He felt his side should have had a penalty on the night when Adam Watkins was tumbled on the edge of the area, but overall was left frustrated.

Brabin continued: “From where we were it looked a stonewall penalty, but we haven’t seen the replays yet.

“We felt a little bit frustrated. We lacked creativity in the final third and in games like that it’s probably easier to nitpick at the referee a little bit but we felt every half decision went against us.

“One thing I’m pleased with we have kept a clean sheet. There was some good football at times, but the big disappointment is we lost two points and lacked a bit of inventiveness in the final third.

“When you hear other clubs moaning about it (decisions) you think they are bad losers and bad sports. Since I’ve been at Luton I’ve noticed there doesn’t seem to be too many people who like us. Whether I’m using that as an excuse... It did feel like at times little 50/50 decisions weren’t going our way. That was disappointing. I’m not going to hide behind that.”

On the boos that rang out at the final whistle, he said: “I can understand the frustration, it’s been here for a few years now. They want to be back to where they belong. There’s no disputing it’s a big club but there’s divine right to get back to where they feel they should belong.

“We have to work hard behind the scenes, players, coaches, managers, staff, supporters as well. We’ve just got to keep backing each other and supporting each other.

“We still have two fantastic chances of getting promotion, one automatic and one through the play-offs.

“It’s important we keep getting stronger and improving things.”

He also had words of praise for target man Craig McAllister who made his debut, adding: “We just didn’t want a big hammer thrower up front, we wanted someone with a little bit of quality as well and Craig’s certainly got that.

“His ability certainly isn’t in question. I know it’s been highlighted he hasn’t had a fantastic season. We are hoping this is a fresh challenge for him and gives him a little bit of a spur and he can give us a little bit of the kick on we need.”