5 hours Ago By Mike Simmonds
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Luton Today, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. On-loan defender Kal Naismith has described just what his perfect scenario would be from today’s clash between Luton and his parent club Bristol City . The 33-year-old has spent nearly three years at Ashton Gate after joining them from Town back in May 2022, where he had enjoyed a terrific campaign, named as the Luton Town Supporters' Trust Player of the Season, plus the Players' Player of the Season as well.
It hasn’t been the happiest time on the field for Naismith since he made the switch though, injury restricting him to just 52 appearances and after only featuring seven times this term, made the decision to return to Bedfordshire for his second spell in January, in a bid to help the Hatters’ try and avoid relegation back to League One. Advertisement Advertisement Going into the game, the margins couldn’t be tighter as the hosts are level on points with fourth bottom Derby County , whom they beat on Good Friday, two more behind Hull City and just one in front of second bottom Cardiff City, while the visitors are in pole position for a top six berth, sitting in fifth place, four points ahead of Middlesbrough in seventh with just three matches to go. Although he can play no part in the contest, not allowed to feature in the game due to his loan rules, asked what he hopes will happen, Naismith said: “I’m gutted I can’t play.
Bristol are a great club, great players, I loved my time there. I’m still incredibly tight with a lot of them, so the best sort of situation for me would be we get the win on Monday, they still get play-offs, we can stay up and then hopefully go and watch them do it at Wembley. There’s people I love at the club, the manager’s great, some of the players there I will stay in contact with the rest of my life.
I want to see them do well, but on Monday it’s Luton and I’m desperate to get the result.” Asked he if thought Hatters chief Matt Bloomfield would call on him for some insider information regarding the Robins , whom under Liam Manning are one of the form teams in the division, with one defeat in their last 12 matches, winning seven of them, Naismith continued: “I don’t know to be honest, I’ve not thought about that. The amount that goes into it with the analysis and how well they do their job, they’ll know everything about Bristol and Bristol will know everything about Luton, that’s just the way it is.
"Then it’s about going on the pitch and who adapts to the gameplan best. It will be a tough game, Bristol have got some incredible players, a really good manager, coaching staff, but as have we. You’ve seen the fans (at Derby), how loud they are at the end, we know they’ll get the Kenny rocking and it will be a tough, tough game for Bristol as it will us.
I’m looking forward to it, I would love to be playing in it, but just looking forward to getting there and watching it, get behind the lads.” Advertisement Advertisement Naismith’s unavailability is doubly frustrating for Town boss Bloomfield who had just recalled him to the starting line-up after a five game absence following his red card against Burnley for the 1-0 success at Pride Park on Good Friday. Discussing just why he opted to bring him in for Liam Walsh and feature in a defensive midfield role, rather than break up the back three of Christ Makosso, Mark McGuinness and Amari’i Bell, he stated: “There’s been a lot of discussion recently about Kal not being in the team, but he’s been a victim of circumstance when he lost his place.
"The back three were excellent, but I wanted Kal Naismith in the team and if you can’t get him in the back three then we thought we’d put him in midfield for that experience. I know he’s done it a few times in the past, we knew we were going to need as much physicality as we could on the pitch because of the opposition, so it felt like the right change to bring Kal’s experience and know-how. "Walshy’s been excellent for us too, It was probably a little bit harsh on Walshy to be left out because of the way we’ve been playing and we’ve also got Lamine who was excellent further forward, but he can play deeper.
We’ll study Bristol City and make up a plan exactly what we need to do, but Walshy and Clicker (Jordan Clark) have been excellent at home. Kal’s experience and know-how and defensive nous and aerial ability was a deciding factor (at Derby), he’s going to be a miss on Monday, but it’s the situation we knew taking him on loan from Bristol City that was always going to be the case.” With Luton having two of their final three games on home soil, and buoyed by their magnificent travelling support at Derby County a few days ago, then Naismith hopes it will be a decisive factor in their bid to remain in the Championship, adding: “Huge, they’re huge.
The fans know how big they are and I’m sure they’ll come in pumped. We know how big the games are and they’ll see us pumped and giving everything on the pitch, so having the two games at home is massive for us. Advertisement Advertisement “It (support at Derby) was incredible.
I couldn't believe it when we came out to go and clap them before the game. You look over and the full corner was just packed and the noise, you don’t know how much difference that makes. They’re now going to take that back home at the Kenny and that’s going to spread through the rest of the crowd.
I cannot wait for the atmosphere on Monday, it gives us so much. We were under the cosh a lot for the second half and all you can hear is the fans. Honestly they don’t know how grateful we are for the support and how much it helps us.
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