Town’s winning habit is proving a strong weapon
ELIJAH Adebayo’s penalty miss immediately precipitated a collective loss of composure from Luton Town, with Kal Naismith shoving Lewis O’Brien to the floor to spark a pull-apart melee that would have been more at home on a wrestling show.
Huddersfield Town had already been calm and collected up to that point, but that show of ill-discipline from the visitors showed Carlos Corberan’s side that if they kept that up, they would emerge victorious.
Luton’s record for fighting back from losing positions is one of the worst in the division. They’ve now claimed just one victory and five draws from the 18 Championship games in which they have fallen behind.
Conversely, seeing games out from winning positions was a bit of an issue for Town earlier this season.
They were able to extend their lead in just three games before the end of January, and dropped points in six of the 11 matches in which they took the lead between the beginning of November and end of January.
But Town have had an excellent record on both counts recently.
Since the beginning of February, Town have followed up their opening goals with a second against Derby, Fulham, Birmingham, Peterborough, West Brom and now Luton.
That late collapse at the Hawthorns is the only time the Terriers have dropped league points in the last eight games in which they have gone ahead. We’re sure a lot of hard work has gone into managing those match situations, but with so many new faces to this season’s squad (and those who were here from last season so used to losing), we’re sure part of it is also just the benefit of time.
Winning every game is not a realistic expectation for any side in this division, but when we talk about sides having a ‘winning habit’, this is exactly the kind of thing we mean.
It’s a great trait to have, and should stand them in good stead should they reach the play-offs.