3 things we clearly learnt about Luton Town after their 1-0 win against Cardiff | OneFootball

Luton Town took another big step towards securing a place in the top six as they claimed a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City yesterday afternoon, winning three valuable points against a side that had little to play for.

Nonetheless, the Hatters will just be grateful to get over the line with James Shea denying Jordan Hugill in the first half with a vital stop and Isaak Davies missing a great opportunity after the interval to put the hosts 1-0 up.

They were made to pay for these missed opportunities when Harry Cornick headed home in the 71st minute – and that goal proved to be the difference between the two sides on the afternoon in a game that was reasonably even.

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Nottingham Forest continue to maximise the heat on Nathan Jones’ men with their own victory against West Bromwich Albion yesterday evening, though they now sit six points clear of seventh place with just three league matches left.

With both Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough suffering losses again, that has only gone on to boost the Hatters and they have now transformed themselves into firm favourites to win a top-six spot at the end of this term.

Focusing less on other events and more on yesterday’s clash against the Bluebirds, we discuss three things we clearly learnt about Jones’ side following their victory at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Soccer Football – Championship – Luton Town v Nottingham Forest – Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain – April 15, 2022 Luton Town’s Robert Snodgrass in action Action Images/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Robert Snodgrass has been a useful signing for the Bedfordshire outfit since his arrival in February.

Previously looking as though his career was stalling at the wrong time following an unsuccessful spell at West Brom, spending much of his time at The Hawthorns on the sidelines, he has revived his career at Kenilworth Road.

And he proved his worth today, executing an inch-perfect cross for Cornick to head home and the importance of his quality on the ball in this situation can’t be underestimated, because the latter isn’t the tallest and needed the perfect ball to give himself the best chance of getting himself on the scoresheet.

Defensively as well, the 34-year-old was exceptional, winning seven of his eight ground duels and two of his three aerial duels (via SofaScore), playing an integral part in keeping the Bluebirds at bay as Steve Morison’s men failed to capitalise on their dominance of the ball.

A valuable contributor both going forward and defensively, the former Hammer will be an important part of Jones’ plans if he can remain fit, something that’s easier said than done considering his back issue earlier in the campaign.

They can grind out results

After the game, Cardiff boss Morison said he believed his side deserved something out of the tie and this assessment is probably accurate, because it’s not as if the Hatters outclassed yesterday’s hosts.

However, Luton seem to have a knack for being able to grind out results and this will serve them well going into the final three league games of the season and potentially beyond with a top-six finish looking more and more likely.

With Boro and Blackburn losing, capitalising on that was so important for them and they were able to, also managing to keep Forest at bay for now.

Speaking of the latter, that victory against Steve Cooper’s men in their previous match prior to the Cardiff game required real character because the Reds threatened in that game and came close several times, even having a goal disallowed through Djed Spence.

Cardiff also came close on two occasions and arguably should have taken both chances – but they weren’t clinical enough on the day and Luton were – a theme that is proving to be crucial to the latter’s play-off prospects.

They do need to be careful when opposition teams are on the break

Soccer Football – Championship – Luton Town v Nottingham Forest – Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain – April 15, 2022 Luton Town’s Reece Burke in action with Nottingham Forest’s Keinan Davis Action Images/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Speaking of those two chances, the Hatters arguably could have been better in both situations and although that may sound harsh with Jones’ men keeping a clean sheet, making further improvements will only boost their chances of promotion.

The first real chance fell to Hugill with an unforced error from the visitors creating that chance – and they were very lucky to be bailed out by Shea – though the Cardiff forward could have arguably done better with his attempt.

And the second opportunity came in the second half when the Hatters’ defence was far too open, allowing Tommy Doyle to sprint forward unopposed and set up Davies, who should have done much better with his attempt.

Both of these opportunities came at 0-0 and if Cardiff had taken the lead, you certainly would have backed them to hold on or add another with the home crowd behind them.

In fairness to Luton though, they coped reasonably well without Sonny Bradley and his return for the next game could help to tighten up their backline further.