Buckle can’t explain difference between league and FA Cup form

Hatters have beaten both Wolves and Norwich, but suffered defeats to the likes of Barrow and Dartford since their famous triumph at Carrow Road.

When asked if he could put his finger on the reasons, Buckle said: “If I had the answer to that, I’d be worth a lot of money to a lot of clubs and I’m not being sarcastic when I say that.

“If you look at not just ourselves, but a lot of clubs who have done well in the cup, it’s hampered their league progress.

“MK Dons, Oldham, sometimes it’s the price you pay. It’s very difficult when you’ve got the highs of beating a Premiership team, at our level, to then get back on it in the league, and where we go to week in week out in our league.

“But you can’t pick and choose, we’ve only got ourselves to blame. It wasn’t good enough the other night (at Dartford), we all know that. We know we’ve got 18 games to try and win promotion.”

One thing the cup run has done for Buckle though is reinforce that the signings he made during the summer and since are the right ones for the club.

He continued: “It proves we’ve brought the right players to the club. In the one off games where we’ve won, we weren’t lucky, we deserved to beat Norwich, deserved to beat Wolves.

“I have brought the right players to the club. What we have to do when this cup run is over is get on it in the league.

“It’s chalk and cheese. What we’ve come up against at Norwich and Wolves is totally different to what we come up against every Saturday. That’s the pressure that comes with trying to get Luton out of the Conference.”

On whether a cup run had been beneficial for the club this season, managing director Gary Sweet added: “At the beginning of the season, an FA Cup run was welcomed, but you can never tell how that will affect your football performances in the league.

“We’d be in a worse position right now if we didn’t have a cup run and our league performances were the same.

“We’re looking at other clubs and the way FA Cup has impacted their performance and you draw the assumption that it does have a negative impact.

“But I can remember previous years where it has been the opposite, so it’s a difficult one to say for us. I think it’s got to be a positive event for us to get this far and a stupendous one.

“The players have certainly proved they can show on the stage at this level against that level of opposition and also the ability to get out of this league.”

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