Berry: We aim to top Forest on merit... not on penalties
LUKE BERRY dished out his own brand of punishment to Nottingham Forest, then revealed he was not aware today’s the day of reckoning for their relegation rival.
Forest face a possible points deduction after being charged with breaking Profit and Sustainability Rules and are expected to learn the outcome of their recent hearing today.
Midfielder Berry explained how boss Rob Edwards (right) reacted to Forest’s charges being made public in January by urging his players to go out and win more points than Nuno Espirito Santo’s side anyway.
He said: “The manager put the topic of the points deduction to bed early doors.
“He just said, ‘Let’s get above them without this points deduction. Let’s put that out of our thoughts and just focus on us’.
“We are only three points off them. We will focus on trying to close that gap of three points.”
Berry, who joined Luton from Cambridge when they were in League Two in 2017, turned in Recce Burke’s header from Ross Barkley’s 89th-minute corner for his first Premier League goal. It was the perfect pick-me-up after the 4-3 midweek loss at Bournemouth and made Berry the first player to score in all four divisions for the Hatters and the first to do it for the same club since Brett Ormerod with Blackpool in 2011.
He lovingly referred to the home fans as being “nuts” as he claimed the roar which greeted his last-gasp leveller was no different to what he experienced in League Two, One and the Championship.
He said: “The fans here have always been nuts. So they always go mental when you score. Even when we were in League Two and you scored in a 7-0 they are still going mental. It is the same feeling.” Berry was part of the Luton side which escaped the drop from the Championship on the final day of the Covid-hit 2019-20 season.
He knows the importance of picking up points in their remaining four home games with trips to Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester City in three of their opening four matches after the international break.
Berry added: “We can take a bit from that relegation escape.
“It is about staying in games, not being silly, and taking every point when it comes.
“Sometimes you can get sucked into thinking, ‘Oh yeah, let’s go for the win’ and in this league teams can easily sucker punch you and you end up with nothing.
“The key is to pick up the points when we can, not be too greedy, and I think the wins will come.”
Forest were kicking themselves for not taking all three points after Chris Wood (below) volleyed in Morgan Gibbs-white’s floated 34th-minute cross.
Divock Origi had already fluffed a one-on-one and had a strike blocked on the line by Burke.
Then after half-time Teden Mengi ensured he headed off to his first England Under-21 callup with a goal-line clearance from his former Manchester United pal Anthony Elanga.
Mengi said: “I couldn’t let my best mate score against us. I said something to him about that after the game. I told him, ‘Because it was you, I couldn’t let you score’. I’m delighted with the callup. I have had a tough couple of seasons with injuries. It is a really big achievement for me.”
LUTON (3-4-3):