Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu reacted to a ‘bittersweet’ landmark after he made his 300th appearance for the Hatters during the 3-2 loss against West Bromwich Albion yesterday.
Town mounted a late comeback attempt with goals from Harry Cornick and Mpanzu, but it ultimately proved too little too late at The Hawthorns.
“It is great to get 300 appearances but the way the game went, it was tough. It is always a proud moment but for me, 300 appearances can come and go, three points is what we wanted today.”
Nathan Jones’ side left themselves with a lot of work to do early on, after falling two goals behind in the first period, the first of which came in the fifth minute.
“It is poor from all of us as a collective. It is a poor goal to concede early on, you’re trying to stay in the game because we know West Brom are a top side, they have just dropped down from the Premier League and are trying to go back up.”
Despite a poor start, the Hatters did end the game strongly and caused the hosts a number of problems which led to pulling two goals back.
“We have shown what we can do when we put teams under pressure and that is what we need to do in the first half. We know we have got it within ourselves to do well. It is tough to take but we have to forget about this game and hopefully on Tuesday night, we come away with three points that we really want."
The midfielder admitted ‘everyone wants Harry to do well’ after the forward scored his second goal in as many matches in the Sky Bet Championship this season.
“Last season it was a long time until he got his goal against Bristol City, it is great to see him on the scoresheet and he was in the right place at the right time.
"We pressed well, Harry Cornick was there to tuck it away and that was the start of a comeback but obviously we didn’t grab the third goal we needed.
“When you don’t score as a striker it is always on your mind, it is tough to get yourself going but you have to be mentally strong. He has started the season with two goals and you can't ask for anymore. He has worked his socks off today and was rewarded with a goal.”
Pelly himself then followed with a 98th minute strike, which ended a record of Luton being undefeated in matches he has scored in, to which he added: “Records are meant to be broken and unfortunately it has gone today. We have to keep going, these things happen so next game, hopefully I score again and we win.”