Elijah Adebayo felt a mixture of delight and relief after he scored his first goals of the season in the 3-3 draw against Huddersfield Town on Tuesday evening.
Huddersfield’s early lead only lasted seven minutes as Adebayo turned in the box and his goalbound shot was diverted past goalkeeper Lee Nicholls by Town defender Michal Helik.
His second was a goal Luton fans have come to expect from the number 11, who shrugged off two defenders before finishing calmly and he revealed just how grateful he is to be off the mark in the Sky Bet Championship this season.
“I’m delighted. It has been tough in the last couple of weeks and from the beginning of the season, but in our team, you are always going to get chances.
“It’s just about keep going and eventually, when they come, you’ve just got to take them. I’ve been edging closer and closer and I’m just happy to get two.
“I said the same thing to Harry Cornick about last year, I scored on the first day last year and then as the games go on this season, it’s like a dark cloud and eventually you’ve just got to keep going and you will get chances.
“Once one goes in then you know you can relax and go and get more now, that’s what it is for me, it’s just about carrying on.”
Opening up during his post-match press conference, the striker is keen to put off the pitch problems behind him and continue scoring goals in a Luton shirt.
“For me, I wasn’t myself in training and how you train in the week is how you’re portrayed on a Saturday. You can beat yourself up as much as you want, but you’ve got to do the work in training and then get your rewards on a Saturday.
“I’ve had a few things away from football have that gone on in my life. It’s difficult, it’s hard to not try to portray that on the pitch. They’re (fans) not going to know what’s going on so it’s just apologies, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
“I’m an honest person and I know I’ve not been at it for the last couple of weeks, but I think the international break came at a good time for me. It gave me time to rest, do a lot of work without having a game and then get myself ready for the games coming up.
“I think Hull and today, I’ve looked more like myself and I just want to continue that for the rest of the season now.”
The 24-year-old was also keen to praise manager Nathan Jones for his help and understanding during his difficulites on and off the pitch this season.
“The gaffer has been really good with me, in terms of telling me, ‘just keep going’.
“He’s given me days when I need to, and he just wanted me to be right back at it. The international break was good for me. It gave me a chance to clear my head, go away, really work hard and coming back firing.
“He (Nathan Jones) just said ‘listen, I want the Elijah that I had last year. I said, ‘I feel much, much better after the break and I’m ready to give it another good go.
“He has been fantastic. He knows I’ve been having a tough time, but he still puts me in there because he knows days like today can come around and I can be how I was.
“This is how I’m going to carry on being for the rest of the season. I feel better, I feel, basically, more like myself now.”