Still felt fatigue played its part in Trophy draw

Hatters manager John Still conceded tiredness played a part as Luton let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2 with Cambridge United in their FA Trophy third round clash yesterday, writes Mike Simmonds.

Town had gone 2-0 up with goals from debutant Ryan Inniss and Alex Wall, before a quickfire second half double by Tom Elliott and Ashley Chambers ensured a replay at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night.

With Town making 10 changes to their side, including starts for Anthony Charles and Solomon Taiwo, Still said: “At 2-0 up, I thought we might run out of a little bit of legs second half with Charlo being out a long time and I felt I was right.

“I thought he found the last 20 minutes a bit tough, while Ryan has just come in and we haven’t done a lot of work with him.

“The second goal would have disappointed us, one straight ball, but I’m not stupid, I’m fully aware that Charlo hasn’t played for a long time.

“It didn’t shock me that an error come from him perhaps not being more on his toes.

“I’m more delighted with the response of the two of them, as they just got back on with it.

“Some might say what’s the best result for Luton? And probably a lot of people would say a draw. The best result for John Still is to win, but we’ve come away from home against a side that’s a good side, good players and we’ve made our normal changes.

“It’s disappointing when you’ve been in front and they come back, but it was a battling performance, we just dug in and I was really, really pleased with that.”

Still was delighted that the likes of Charles and Taiwo got 90 minutes, with the latter not starting since August 17.

Striker Jon Shaw also made his first appearance for over four months, as the boss continued: “Solly I thought did exceptionally well for someone who hasn’t played, and has had the one game against Reading in the week.

“It was really important for Anthony Charles, for Solly, even for Shawy to get some fitness.

“One of the things that was really on our mind before the game, was how long Charlo and Solly could last.

“In fairness they lasted the distance, not easily, and considering that Ryan only came in on Friday and did one training session, I thought they did all right.

“For patches in both halves, we lacked a little bif of legs in midfield, Kane (Ferdinand) hasn’t played a lot of football, but I have to be satisfied with what I’ve seen.”

One thing that Still wasn’t overly happy with was referee Simon Bennett, who gave a soft penalty against Jake Howells for handball, before missing a clear foul on Kane Ferdinand in the build up to United’s first goal.

He said: “They were strange decisions. I actually thought one (penalty appeal for Cambridge) before that might have been, but I didn’t think that one was.

“But I’m 50 yards away, so it’s difficult isn’t it. Very rarely do I complain about a decision that I can’t really have an impression on, if you give it, you give it.”

Meanwhile, on the Ferdinand decision, he added: “We’re a long way from it, but you know what you can tell, the game stopped for a second because it was a foul.

“He didn’t give the foul, they’ve come down and scored. It’s a long way from our goal, but we should probably do a little bit better in our box.

“It looked a foul, but it wasn’t.”

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