Still happy he got it right against Dartford

After criticising his own selection against Wrexham last week, Town boss John Still thought he got it right in Town’s 3-0 win over Dartford on Tuesday night, writes Mike Simmonds.
Luke GuttridgeLuke Guttridge
Luke Guttridge

Still dropped Shaun Whalley and Mark Cullen, bringing in Alex Lawless and Jim Stevenson, reverting back to the 4-3-3 that had worked so well at Kidderminster Harriers.

It enabled midfielder Luke Guttridge to play much further forward, and the summer signing netted his third goal of the campaign.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Still said: “I think I picked the wrong team on Friday, so I just changed a little bit and we were much better for it,

“The position I played Luke Guttridge was wrong and I’m big enough to look back and reflect on that.

“Sometimes you make changes and it looks great, you look back and say I changed it, that’s good, well done me.

“Sometimes you have to look at it and say I’ve changed it and not so well done.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We were much more fluid, Luke playing off Paul Benson looked very good, both wide men looked comfortable on the ball, we had a very competitive midfield, we scored three and probably could have a had a couple more.”

On just why he hadn’t stuck with his guns at Wrexham, Still continued: “Jim played in the one here before, he came on and did very well.

“When we went away to Wrexham, I looked at it and Jim hasn’t had an enormous amount of football, so I just felt that maybe Luke playing a bit deeper might give us a bit more knowledge and a bit more experience playing away from home.

“I didn’t really have any problem before the game with the team, but on reflection, Luke is so good at finding space as he’s an experienced player.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He had about four shots here the other day when we drew against Grimsby, because he finds that space. It didn’t go in, but he found some space, had a shot, it took a deflection and it goes in.

“So he’s capable of finding a way of shooting and we reverted back to that.

“We’re were at home too, so come on Jim and he’s done well.”

The returning Lawless was quick to praise Guttridge’s impact since he has been at Kenilworth Road, adding: “He’s great. If you look on paper, he’s played comfortably higher up for years now and it’s no surprise he’s doing well here.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He’s a proper character and he’s doing well. He’s a good player and it’s players like him that are going to be massive players for us this season.”

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, MOM poll, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our Hatters Microsite.

Related topics: