By admin Sambi Lokonga, a Luton midfielder, believes the Town fans did not deserve their team’s 5-1 defeat at home to Brentford.
The on-loan Arsenal player returned to the team for the first time since being substituted at halftime in a 4-1 loss to Liverpool, having missed the previous nine games due to a hamstring injury. Fans arriving at Kenilworth Road were ecstatic to learn of his inclusion alongside Gabe Osho and Teden Mengi, as they were eager to see the outstanding Belgian international return to action.
It started nicely, too, with Lokonga returning to his deep-lying role, allowing teammate Ross Barkley to go a little more forward as he attempted to get on the ball and drive forward when opportunities offered. After the Bees took the lead with Yoanne Wissa’s stunning finish, one such approach resulted in a golden chance for Tahith Chong, which he missed, before Brentford added the important second shortly before the break.
After halftime, the Gunner was powerless to prevent Town’s opponents from adding two more goals, and he was replaced by Chong with 20 minutes remaining, before the visitors scored again, with Luke Berry providing the smallest of consolation in stoppage time. Lokonga responded on Instagram, saying, “Your support does not deserve this kind of outcome. “We will fight until the end to get you what you deserve!”
Skipper Carlton Morris reiterated his comments, saying: “I just want to touch on the supporters as well; how we’re getting clapped off there, I’ll never know to be honest. They’ve been terrific for us all season, and that will be critical because we’re still in with a chance here. I believe in myself and my teammates, that we can accomplish this and get enough points to stay up in the future games, and we’ll need them more than before.”
Even though Town have been known for their ability to come back in the second half of games this season, Edwards knew the game was over when he decided to replace the 24-year-old, who has made 15 appearances in total since joining from the Emirates in August, adding: “Bringing Sambi off after 70 minutes, we’re thinking, right the game is done, let’s look after him.”
“It was difficult then, because we lost Burkey (Reece Burke), and we’re running out of defenders again, so do we need to block this up now and try to shut up shop, or show a will and drive, especially in front of our own supporters, to try and get the next or last goal? I’m delighted we did it, but I told the guys at halftime that I believe the next goal may be the winner here. I really felt like we showed enough in the first half in terms of attacking play to really scare them; they obviously got it off a set-piece, and it became difficult from there.”