Still says title race is still wide open as he distances himself from Cambridge United rivalry

Top-of-the-table Cambridge United are not Town’s only rivals for the title according to Luton boss John Still, writes Mark Wood.
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He believes almost any team hitting form between now and the end of the season can challenge for the Skrill Premier crown.

Still said: “At the moment I would guess there’s probably 15 or 16 teams that could win the league, because if they win every game they can win the league.

“And as far as I’m concerned they’re all of our rivals at the moment.”

Just one point currently separates leaders U’s from Luton, with a war of words breaking out between the two in recent weeks as the battle for top spot heats up.

But Still distanced himself from the rivalry, saying: “I keep saying I don’t even look, and I really do mean that. People think I lie, but I’m not.

“I know who’s top, I know who’s second, of course I do I’m not stupid, but I never look at it because sometimes teams come from fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and go on a fantastic run.

“When you get to the business end of the season, with sort of eight, nine, 10 games to go, you’ll know who your rivals are and obviously you become a bit more aware when they lose that you might not need as many points as you thought and things like that.

“But at the moment, the only team I’m worried about is Luton, I’ve really got no interest.

“I know it sounds silly, I couldn’t care. It came over the tannoy on Saturday and I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t hear it, saying ‘Hereford one, Cambridge nil,’ everyone cheered.

“Well next week it might be so and so one, Luton nil, because that’s football.

“I never get wound up with what other teams are doing at this stage of the season, I’m really, really not interested.

“My focus is on Luton Town, it’s the only team I can influence, I can’t influence the others and I don’t want to waste my energy on trying to influence the others.”

A more patient Kenilworth Road faithful has helped with the Hatters’ recent run of great form and Still hopes that continues even if results start to go against them.

He said: “I hope they think the same if we lose two or three, but in this game, it can never be a game of highs, it’s a game of highs and lows.

“The trick is to treat them both the same and if you can treat them both the same, in the end, whatever quality you’ve got will come through.

“At the moment the support is unbelievably positive and the players are producing the right sort of performance so we’re all happy and let’s hope we can keep that going.”

And he still believes Town’s fans can play a key role in helping them to the title.

He added: “Unbelievable, but I think that’s been part of what we’ve tried to do. I think from day one I’ve tried to get my philosophy over to everybody, supporters, staff, directors, everyone really.

“It’s no good at the end of a season if we’ve won everyone patting themselves on the back if they haven’t contributed.

“Everyone’s got to contribute. We have to, staff, players have to, we have a scouting system that has to go out and contribute and supporters have to contribute.

“One day it might be the players that do great, and that’s great the players have done well.

“On another day we might not do so great and supporters can get us over the line, I think they got us over the line against Halifax and I think from that early part of the season I think it’s to everybody’s credit that we’ve turned this into a proper team, a proper team effort.

“And everyone’s got a vital part to play in that team. And if one day one part of the team doesn’t quite work the rest of the team will pull it through.

“If it’s quite fragmented, and that’s not quite right, and that’s not quite right, sometimes it ain’t never going to work. It’s a team effort and it’s really important that the support that we’ve had and received is maintained because that will win us games.”