Tyler’s ready to pass play-off exam

Last year Luton suffered the bitter taste of defeat in a penalty shoot-out against AFC Wimbledon at the City of Manchester Stadium and the 35-year-old keeper is determined it won’t happen again.

He said: “If it happens it happens. I’ve done my homework. Obviously there will be a lot of fans there so it’s whoever keeps their nerve.

“I will see how they run up and stuff like that. It’s anybody’s game.

“You could be a hero or they could be top class penalties and you don’t get near them, so it’s 50/50 and hopefully this time we can come out on top.

“I’m there to save it, I will do my homework, speak to Dimi about a few things.

“Touch wood we won’t need it and if it does come to it I don’t want to have the same feeling we had last year, but we will see.”

He thinks that experience will have stood him in good stead, saying: “It was in front of a big crowd and I think a lot of people have played at Wembley in our team anyway.

“I know they (York) played Saturday, but hopefully it would be towards our fans and they suck the ball into the net.”

Hatters fans will have painful memories of Jason Walker having his effort saved by Dons keeper Seb Brown last time out as he tried to delicately chip down the middle.

The now-York striker is likely to face up against his former team-mate at the weekend, and Tyler said: “I will shake Jase’s hand, he’s a great bloke, top lad.

“He was unfortunate with the penalty but it was his decision to leave. He’s not a Luton Town player any more.”

And on what would happen if he had to face a Walker penalty, Tyler said: “It’s up to him, if he does it, fair play to him. He’s got the bottle to do it, but to be honest if it’s in front of our fans I think he will just smash the ball down the middle, so we will see.”

It’s the first time Tyler has played at the ‘new’ Wembley and he will complete the double having triumphed at the old with Peterborough United.

He said: “I’m showing my age now. It’s the best place to play football. If you ask any footballer they want to play at the home of their country and that’s Wembley. Hopefully it will be a great day out.

“I’ve played at the old Wembley, never been to the new one. I’ve got good memories there, we won 1-0 and played all right. Touch wood we can repeat that scoreline.

“Any time you get to play at Wembley should be a special occasion. There’s lots of people who have graced that stage and it will be my second time and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Luton are now fully past last season’s disappointment too, with Tyler saying: “In football you’ve got to get over your disappointments as quick as possible.

“Don’t get me wrong, we would have liked to have had a better season. I think we have been below par for a Luton Town team. But the new gaffer’s come in and had a breath of fresh air about the place.

“We got into the play-offs and we didn’t care how we got in there, whether we finished fifth, fourth, third, whatever, and I think we showed in the two games against Wrexham that we deserved to be in the final.”

With that has come a new-found solidity at the back, with Tyler saying: “We just needed a bit of guidance I think in that area. Don’t get me wrong, I would have liked to have had eight clean sheets.

“We should have done against Hayes, but it was the gaffer’s first game with new ideas and were 50 per cent put across and 50 per cent put into action.

“From that onwards up to the Wrexham away game I think we have been outstanding defensively.

“He has kept a settled back four and when Shane’s (Blackett) came in when he’s need to he’s done the same and when Glees (Dan Gleeson) has come in he’s done well. It’s a team game and the boys have done the same.”

Despite York having won three and drawn one of their four encounters this season, Tyler is confident, saying: “It’s frustrating, because without being disrespectful to them I thought we outplayed them in the Trophy game here.

“Then I thought we were outstanding when we went down to nine men and they couldn’t break us down. We haven’t got anything to be frightened of.

“We know the way they play, we’ve done our homework, we’ve done our training and hopefully they won’t be up that end of the pitch much.

“I said to my partner it would be fate we would meet them in the final and beat them. The first part has come true so hopefully the second part will do too.”

Town have also often gone without a keeper on the bench this season, but Tyler admitted he would like to see young stopper Lewis Kidd amongst the substitutes although it won’t affect the way he plays.

Tyler added: “You can’t go into a tackle or a challenge half-hearted or you will come off worse or get sent off or injured.

“You’ve got to be fully committed, 100 per cent. The gaffer makes those decisions for a reason.

“It could be for an extra striker to score a goal or an extra defender to help us at the back.

“Lewis has been tremendous since KP (Kevin Pilkington) left. Me personally I would like to see him on the bench Sunday but that’s not my decision.”

To read a special eight page play-off preview, see the Luton News/Dunstable Gazette on sale this Wednesday, while for all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our Hatters Microsite.