'I'm sorry' - Luton boss forced into an apology as Portsmouth look to pile pressure on struggling Hatters

The Hatters boss issued an apology to supporters after overseeing the team’s 20th league defeat of the season against Watford on Sunday.

The 2-0 loss leaves bottom-of-the table Luton five points from safety and at real risk of a second successive relegation after featuring in the Premier League last season.

Seventeenth-placed Pompey sit 11 points above Bloomfield & Co heading into their first visit to Kenilworth Road since January 2019 on Saturday.

That gap could rise to as much as 14 with just 11 games remaining at the weekend, giving John Mousinho’s side added belief that they can retain their Championship status while piling further pressure on Bloomfield, who is yet to taste victory since replacing Rob Edwards last month.

Yet the Luton boss is desperate to avoid that scenario. And in his apology to fans, he retained the belief that survival remains possible for his out of sorts side.

Addressing supporters following a14th defeat in 17 away games, the former Wycombe boss said: ‘Thank you for your support, sorry we didn't give you something to cheer and to go home with.

‘I really wanted to come here and start and unsettle and impose ourselves on the game. The first little period of the game I felt like there was nothing much going on, we settled the crowd a little bit and Watford, but as soon as we give them a goal like that it’s going to be tough for us.

‘I’m sorry we didn’t give them something to cheer about as they're following us in their numbers and the away record this season hasn't been good enough considering the amount of time, effort, energy and money they support their team with.

‘We’ll keep fighting and we want to give them better days to come. It is (an uphill battle to stay up), but it’s one we believe we can achieve.

‘We understand the situation, I’ve said it a number of times now. It’s not where we want to be, but the only way to get out of it is to stick together and keep fighting.’

Reasons to stay positive

Luton have lost nine of their past 12 games heading into their head-to-head against Pompey, with the other three matches ending in draws. Their last win came against Derby on December 20.

Despite their latest defeat at Vicarage Road, Bloomfield believes there were still reasons to remain positive.

He added: ‘We have to believe in that (Luton can survive) and I do believe in that. We saw in the second half that the boys are still fighting.

‘We were rocked in the first half, that was obvious, but the boys kept playing. They didn’t go under but, unfortunately, weren’t able to find the goal that would have got us back in the game.

‘We have to keep working and keep improving. Generally we are doing alright between the two boxes but games are won or lost in the penalty boxes and it’s not going our way.

‘It has hurt us. We have to eradicate the errors at one end and start taking our chances at the other.’

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