UPDATED: Knock set to force change ahead of Fleet visit

Boss Paul Buckle was reticent to reveal who was a doubt at today’s press conference ahead of tomorrow’s visit of struggling Ebbsfleet.

The Town chief had been keen to name the same side that won on Wednesday, but looks likely to have to make at least one change.

Buckle said: “Certainly one of the 16 that was involved has picked a knock up which was unfortunate. We’ve got enough players to come in and do a job.

“We’ve got a couple of knocks. I’m a bit reluctant to say who because it gives my hand away.

“But we’ve picked up a couple of knocks and one will be doubtful and that’s a shame but that’s life and we just get on with it.

“Hopefully it won’t change too many things for us.”

Long-term injuries Danny Spiller and Garry Richards are still out and James Dance is also unavailable, while new signing, winger Scott Neilson, can’t be selected until the New Year’s Day fixture at Woking.

And Luton will be looking for maximum points against an Ebbsfleet side second from bottom in the table, with the second worst goal difference.

But Buckle again put the onus on his side to perform, saying: “Statistics and recent form of our opposition I don’t pay much attention to because I know it’s always a different game.

“You saw on Boxing Day that they never gave up, even at 2-0 where it was all us, they didn’t give.

“They won’t give in because they have nothing to lose. All of that goes out of the window.

“We have to be at our very best and if we are at our very best we’ve got a great chance.

“And I’m confident that the players are in a good place at the moment and we don’t want to let it slip.

“If at home we can put pressure on teams and play at a high tempo and cause them problems, we’re looking very dangerous now from all aspects of our play including set-plays.”

Fleet are ruddered by experience boss Liam Daish, for whom Buckle has plenty of respect.

He said: “He’s got a good record, he’s an experienced manager and I’m sure he’ll set his time up well.

“But again, having said all of that, I don’t look anywhere other than Luton and my team, that’s the way we like to do it.

“I respect all of the managers in the division. I respect all the manager all of the teams.

“That’s why I sort of bit a little bit last week when we’re talking about games we should be winning and all these things. What we should be doing is realising where we’re at, how tough it is and concentrate and focus on that.

“Because when we do that, we win games, we get on a run and this is what we need to concentrate on, fully on the next game, take it on its merits, understand how to win the game of football.

“Because the season will go past quickly now after Christmas. It always goes very quick.

“What I don’t want to do is look ahead, certainly you’ll never find us putting down the team or thinking we’ve got a God-given right to go out there and win, we have to earn it, we really do have to earn it to get out of this division.”

Buckle was pleased with the way his side trumped the Cards on Wednesday and looks set to persist with playing four strikers, which has served him well this season.

He said: “The reason I wasn’t afraid of playing that team is before we’ve always scored goals with that team. The one thing we let ourselves down on was set plays in those games.

“I think we scored an own goal and the goals were poor at Grimsby, they were terrible goals.

“Personnel has changed in that department as well if you look back.

“The front four system, (Scott) Rendell plays short very well. That’s Scott’s game.

“Even if you play Scott up front in a two, he drops back short. You can never have just two strikers stood up.

“Scott drops back short and he’s excellent at linking the play up. You’ve got (Jon) Shaw who’s got good height.

“You’ve got (Andre) Gray’s pace and you’ve got Fleets’ (Stuart Fleetwood) pace so it keeps opposition guessing.

“And the one thing you saw Boxing Day from us was, when they got a set-play, or banged big balls in we had enough six footers in the team to deal with it.

“It’s huge, it’s the balance of the team, of attacking and being able to defend.

“In open play people like Rendell, Shaw, Gray, Fleetwood they got back into slots for us. You never saw us being undone by any attacks.

“We were a good shape. The difference is the 18-yard box where we defended that very well with the height we’ve got in the team.”

He was also delighted by Janos Kovacs’ brave header which had given them the lead and is pleased that other players are also helping to wade in with goals.

“It was brave, it’s what you want in both boxes,” said Buckle. “It’s imperative that you’re brave and you’re strong and Janos was all of those things.

“And I thought him and (Simon) Ainge were nice and solid. I actually think Ainge was close to the header as well.

“It’s nip and tuck who got it, but it was definitely Janos, you could tell by his reaction.

“I think he had his family watching so that was a nice moment for him. Two goals on the board for Jan.

“The centre-halves need to come up with some goals because the forwards are certainly sharing the goals around now, it’s a good return by our strikers.”

On the Boxing Day game, he continued: “It’s fantastic to start off on the front foot. Players came out of the traps on Boxing Day and we’ll need more of the same tomorrow.

“We’ve looked back at the DVD this morning and we’ve done a lot of things right.

“We’ve really earnt the right to play in miserable conditions and went on from there, so it was a positive start.”

Town were cruising at 2-0 and, although Woking pulled a goal back out of the blue, the Town boss was pleased with the way his side responded.

He said: “It’s uncomfortable when you concede at any time, but especially when you are in total control. A team scores against the run of play it can throw a team. It can change the mentality very quickly. So it was really pleasing that the players reacted. I didn’t need to jump off the bench and scream and shout.

“I’m really confident in the players, the characters we’ve got and they proved me right.

“It was good to see, I’m pleased Shawy scored, it was a good finish, and when you look back on the goal we done a lot of things right.

“It’s come from Mark (Tyler) kicking the ball upfield, we’ve won a second ball, which is important.

“The pace we’ve joined into the box, before Andre played that ball across, when you freeze it we had four players on the halfway line and we’ve made the box within five seconds.

“This is the determination and you will need if you are going to win games.”

And while conscious of Town’s susceptibility to concede Buckle was keen to focus on the positives.

On their habit of conceding, he said: “That’s a tough question that one. I would much rather concentrate of four-straight wins at home to be honest.

“I think if we lose a game, I could be critical and the players take it on the chin. But I think if we win, and we win like we did on Boxing Day, we’ve shown good form at home.

“I think it’s really important that we back the players, and I back the players.

“We’re not the finished article yet. I’ve said all along we’re improving, I think the good thing about us is we are improving, and we’re handling playing at home.

“We were 0-0 in the Alfreton game at half time, we didn’t panic, we went on to score three goals and the one thing we are doing is scoring goals, which is positive and we could have had more on Boxing Day.

“We would like to keep clean sheets of course, but at the same time, one thing we have looked at is Mark, and Brilly (Dean Brill) when he plays, it must be so hard for them to concentrate.

“Because for 70 minutes, he’s not had a shot to save, not even had a touch of the ball in their hands.

“You imagine being stood in goal for that long in these conditions and you’re called upon.

“It was a good strike from the lad, Mark’s done well to get a hand on it and they’ve followed it in.

“Other than that they didn’t trouble us so I’ve got to be happy with that and also really happy with the players’ reaction after we conceded, because we didn’t drop our heads or step back, we stepped forward again and won the game.”

And although there were lessons to be learned for the return clash at the Kingfield on Tuesday, Buckle was concentrating on the forthcoming match.

He said: “My focus now is on Saturday. I have to concentrate solely on the game on Saturday.

“That’s where my mind is. If we continue where we left off we will be OK.

“We were full of energy, we shut the ball down very well, and we’ll be looking to do that again.

“If we do that, and we get in front, normally the team that gets the first goal goes on to win.”

With the season also midway through little separates the teams and the top of the table and Buckle is now looking for the Hatters to build up some real momentum.

He added: “It’s important, confidence and momentum is massive in football.

“You can have the best team in the world on paper, you can put it up on a board and it can look great, but you can’t get away from the fact that if players are confident, and this is why I’m happy that Shaw has scored and Rendell’s put another penalty away, because that helps.

“It helps massively and once you get that momentum it’s hard to stop. We we are right in there, we will fall behind with games, we’ve got the cup game to come and the trophy, it’s just keeping our nerve, staying focused and winning our games in hand.”