Luton Town boss slams 'mental' red card decision vs Portsmouth as 'quiet' Fratton Park claim made

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Pompey shared the spoils once again as Championship football returned to Fratton Park.

Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has criticised the ‘mental’ decision to book Thomas Kaminski for time-wasting before a second yellow card saw the goalkeeper sent off during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Portsmouth.

Pompey’s second league game of the season saw no goals but, as with the 3-3 draw at Leeds United a week ago, plenty of drama as John Mousinho’s men went toe-to-toe with a side who were playing Premier League football last season. Chances flowed in a brilliant first-half but the major talking point came on 31 minutes, when Kaminski left his box and took out Paddy Lane, with a second yellow and then red card brandished.

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The awarding of that second yellow was disputed by no one but Luton frustration came from the first booking, with Kaminski punished for time-wasting very early on. And Hatters boss Edwards fumed at the decision when reflecting on the game, questioning why he would look to kill the game off so early on when they were fancied to win.

“I have to talk about the red card, I think it was mental,” Edwards told Luton’s in-house media. “I’m asking them to play a certain way, I’m asking Teden [Mengi] to wait on the ball, have a look and assess what they're doing, we want to try and make two or three short passes to bring them on to us so we can get behind them, and then go to speed the game up. 

“We saw some really good examples of that earlier in the game. We’re not wasting time, I'm not trying to waste time, why would I do that in the first-half? And if you're going to book anyone , then I don't know why you’re not going to book Teden. Teden is the one that’s waiting on the ball - and I’m asking him to by the way. Crazy!

“The second one I'm not complaining about but we’re then having to shuffle about and it becomes a really difficult, or different, afternoon for us. It gives the lads some belief, it was a good performance coming away from home. This place is a little bit like Kenilworth Road, there's been a lot said about the atmosphere it would create but I think we quietened it down well. Loads of really good performances so overall, a good start.”

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Luton defended resolutely up until half-time and continued to hunker down for the second-half, with Pompey unable to break the deadlock despite their man advantage. The home side might also have a bone to pick with the referee after Connor Shaughnessy was denied a penalty and then booked for his protests.

Despite plenty of effort from Pompey, they were unable to break down a battling defence and in the end, were made to settle for a point. But Mousinho has now faced two of this season’s promotion favourites in Leeds and Luton, taking a point from each. It doesn’t get any easier, with next weekend presenting a long and difficult trip to Middlesbrough.

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