Manager pleased to hold on to draw at Cambridge
While disappointed to let a two-goal lead slip, Town boss John Still was satisfied with his much-changed side’s 2-2 draw at Cambridge.
The Hatters led 2-0 at promotion rivals Cambridge with goals from debutant Ryan Inniss and striker Alex Wall but two goals in two second half minutes from the hosts set-up a replay at Kenilworth Road this Tuesday.
“We’ve come away from home against a side that’s a good side, good players and we’ve made our normal changes,” said the boss after 2-2 draw.
“Some might say what’s the best result for Luton? And probably a lot of people would say a draw. The best result for John Still is to win.
“It’s disappointing when you’ve been in front and they come back, but it was a battling performance, we just dug in and I was really, really pleased with that.”
With 10 changes made to the team that last played in the Skrill Premier, Still thought some tired legs led to Cambridge’s second half revival.
“We found the last 20 minutes tough,” said Still. “Our centre-back pairing of Anthony Charles and Ryan Inniss obviously have not played together and we knew Anthony’s fitness would not be great because he has been out for so long and we paid for it.
“One straight ball through the middle for the second goal carved us open and we could do nothing.
“I do not want to sound unfair to Anthony but I am not surprised he made mistakes because of match rustiness. We thought we would give him another run-out as this game was important for the likes of him, Solomon Taiwo and Jon Shaw but I think tiredness was a major factor in us giving away the lead.”
Tuesday's replay will see the winners move forward to the quarter-final of the Trophy and Still may change things selection-wise once more.
"We'll have a look and see who's fit and available," he said. "We'll have a look at Jake Howells as he's played a lot recently but we'll wait and see what our options are."