SONNY: SIMON DID WELL TO SLUGA IT OUT
Stop firing blanks and we’ll win title, claims Livermore
WIGAN
LUTON 0 0
SONNY BRADLEY praised Luton keeper Simon Sluga for bouncing back from a tough introduction to English football.
The Croatia star (above) arrived for a club record £1.3million last summer, but was axed 11 games into the season after a number of costly errors.
Sluga has improved since returning to the team just before Christmas and salvaged a vital point for the Hatters with a brilliant added-time save from
Michael Jacobs – earning a round of applause from his team-mates in the dressing room afterwards.
Luton skipper Bradley said: “You can’t hide from the fact Simon did have a difficult start, but so did a few of us. You’ve got to remember he came from a different country and went straight into one of the toughest leagues.
“But it shows he has got a great character because after those early games he could have gone under and not fancied it. But that is not what Simon is all about.
“He has worked harder on his game and now he is right up to speed. Now we need him to maintain that form in the last nine games.” It was a third clean sheet in six matches for Luton at relegation-rivals Wigan.
The Latics are now unbeaten in six games and boss Paul Cook said: “That point could prove important come the end of the season.
“Only eight points separate the bottom eight teams and it is going right down to the wire.”
Marshall 6, Byrne 6, Kipre 7, Balogun 9, Naismith 7, Williams 6, Morsy 8, Roberts 6 (Pilkington 44, 6), Lowe 5 (Garner 80, 5), Massey 5 (Jacobs 62, 6), Moore 7
Sluga 7, Pearson 6, Carter-Vickers 6, Bradley 6, Cranie 6, Ruddock-Mpanzu 6, Rea 6, Tunnicliffe 6, Cornick 7 (Lua Lua 80, 5), Brown 7, Collins 6
Gavin Ward 10,292
JAKE LIVERMORE told his West Brom team-mates to forget about lifting the Championship trophy until they rediscover their attacking threat.
The England international watched Leeds move past his side to the top of the table after only registering one shot on target in this stalemate.
And Livermore says the Championship’s joint top goalscorers need to work out quickly how to tear teams apart again if they want to pip Marcelo Bielsa’s side to the title.
“The gap is still six points on the play-offs but we’re disappointed that we haven’t come away with three points,” Livermore said.
“Good luck to Leeds, they can do whatever they need to do, but we’re here to win the league.
“It didn’t quite go for us in the final third today but we will be telling the boys to keep their chins up and we go again next week.
“We nullified their attacks and we looked solid, but didn’t quite have that cutting edge. It’s difficult but we’ll keep our spirits up. We had periods where we were OK but, as we know, that’s not good enough want to be.”
Despite only testing Swans keeper Freddie Woodman the once with a Callum Robinson shot, Slaven Bilic’s side remain two wins clear of Fulham and the chasing pack in the race for automatic promotion.
This was the second league game in a row where the Baggies have failed to score, but Livermore says the point will be a valuable one in the race to regain their Premier League status.
“We had a little blip against for where we
Wigan, which was the third game in a week, and they’re in good form,” he added. “And I thought the boys did fantastic against Newcastle in the FA Cup.
“I should have scored and we had another couple of chances. We may not be where we want to be but in the grand scheme of things it’s another point, which may take us where we need to be.” The draw saw Swansea drop a place in the table but they are still just three points off the play-off places. And ahead of next week’s clash at Middlesbrough, defender Joe Rodon (left) urged them to grasp their opportunity.
The Wales star said: “It’s very tight from about fourth to 10th in the league table.
“It’s all about the next game and we really want to make it happen. Hopefully we can start collecting points, start a run and push on towards the end of the season.” SWANSEA:
WEST BROM:
MOTM
KYLE NAUGHTON (SWANSEA)