Hatters manager Nathan Jones wants his side to show more belief in themselves as they look to put a run of results together to challenge at the top of the Sky Bet League Two table.
On Saturday, ninth-placed Town head to Wycombe, who sit one spot and one point above them, looking to build on Tuesday night’s 2-0 home victory over bottom club Port Vale.
At his pre-match press conference at The Brache this lunchtime, Jones was asked by the local media whether his squad, which contains 11 new signings from the one that lost in the play-off semi-finals last term, needs to show more confidence and swagger in their play?
Jones replied: “Maybe not so much swagger, but belief. I want them to believe in themselves because I believe in them. I brought them to the club and I believed they were the best that we could recruit, because that’s what we’ve tried to do.
“We didn’t not sign anyone because of budget restraints, or anything like that, so the best that were available to us, we signed and we went to. So I want them to be confident.
“It’s early days yet, and there’ll come times when we have to pick up a few. Obviously they would have been confident after the first game, but we had a big week in terms of Ipswich and then Barnet.
“So once the season settles down and they find their feet and their rhythm, and we are a little bit more settled and they’ve got their feet under the table, then we might see that kind of confidence coming out.
“But at the minute, it’s about everyone gelling and everyone getting to grips with the club, the system and how we train, and once we do that, look, it’s a long season.
“There are thirty-nine games to go and there are going to be a lot of twists and turns along the way, and we’ve got to make sure we are right there.”
Apart from midfielder Lawson D’Ath, who is continuing his recovery from an ankle injury sustained in the final week of pre-season, the Town boss has a full squad to pick from for the trip to Adams Park – including captain Scott Cuthbert, who is available again after serving a one-match suspension following his red card against Swindon last Saturday.
The Town have never lost at Wycombe, winning six and drawing six – including on our last visit in January when Cuthbert headed the Hatters in front with his first goal for the club, but a straight red card for Johnny Mullins soon followed and Gareth Ainsworth’s men hit back to draw 1-1.
Jones has spent much of the week stressing to his squad the importance of keeping their discipline.
He said: “They are always keenly contested matches (at Wycombe) and you know that when you come up against Gareth’s sides, you’re in for a difficult afternoon. They’ll be no different on the weekend.
“Last year we played very well for 80-odd minutes, then an incident happened and we couldn’t hold on for the win. We drew the game.
“One thing we’ve talked about quite a lot this week, is discipline – and reiterating how important it is. We are going to speak about it again today because we can’t have that affect us this year in any kind of way.
“It has so far. We’ve had lapses of discipline in certain ways, and that can’t creep into it. We’ve got a decent record against them, but we know we are going to be in for a tough one.”
*THE Ticket Office would like to remind supporters planning to travel to Wycombe on Saturday that tickets are on sale until 2pm tomorrow, and can be purchased online, from the LTFC ticket office in person or by phone on 01582 416976.
Arrangements can be made for tickets to be collected at Wycombe on the day but tickets WILL NOT be available to purchase on the day at Adams Park.