Stoke City vs Luton Town FC (10th Dec 2019)

STOKE CITY 3-0 LUTON TOWN

The Hatters suffered a disappointing defeat at the Bet365 Stadium this evening as they were beaten 3-0 by Stoke City.

Goals from James McClean and Joe Allen condemned the Town to a sixth consecutive away defeat in the Championship.

Graeme Jones opted to keep ten out the XI who started against Wigan Athletic at the weekend in his starting line-up – with the exception of the injured Dan Potts, who was replaced by Alan Sheehan, making his first second tier start for the club.

Ryan Shawcross very nearly marked his return to the Stoke side within the opening ten minutes, connecting with James McClean’s corner from six yards out, but could only direct it onto the crossbar before Shea gathered.

Two minutes before the half hour mark and the Hatters had their first opportunity of the game as Luke Berry sliced the Stoke defence open finding Ryan Tunnicliffe – but the former Millwall man took too many touches and Danny Batth made a great block on the effort, sending it behind for a corner.

With 35 minutes on the clock the hosts took the lead after a mix-up between Andrew Shinnie and Matty Pearson, with Joe Allen winning the ball and playing in McClean, who fired past James Shea from an angle.

Just three minutes later and the Town keeper was called into action as he palmed away Sam Clucas’ effort from the edge of the box, diving to his right and to put it out for a corner, before having to pull off a near carbon-copy save with 41 minutes gone from the same attacker, who really should’ve done better.

Joe Allen doubled the hosts’ advantage just before the half-time whistle as he nodded in unmarked from McClean’s cross, before adding a third five minutes after the restart as he curled an effort into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.

Harry Cornick should have done better after Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu intercepted a pass on the edge of the Stoke final third, picking out George Moncur who then found the forward, but he sliced his shot wide with 55 minutes gone.

Tom Ince’s low drive was tipped behind by Shea, flying to his right to keep out the effort from the edge of the box with nine minutes to go.

On a night of frustration for the Town, a silver lining was the return of Glen Rea, who was introduced at the beginning of the second half, having not made an appearance for the Hatters in 353 days.

The result sees the Town slip down a place to 21st spot, three points clear of the Potters.

Stoke: Butland, Edwards, Ward, Allen, Lindsay, Ince, Vokes (Diouf 79), McClean, Shawcross (Batth 16), Clucas (Powell 82), Cousins.

Subs not used: Federici, Hogan, Collins, Wood.

Goals: McClean 35, Allen 45, 50

Yellows: Lindsay

Town: Shea, Bree, Pearson, Bradley, Sheehan ©, Mpanzu, Tunnicliffe, Shinnie (Rea 46), Berry (Moncur 46), Collins, Cornick.

Subs not used: Sluga, McManaman, LuaLua, Jones.

Yellows: Collins, Rea

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 20,216

Away: 769

GRAEME JONES ON THE DEFEAT TO THE POTTERS

Hatters boss Graeme Jones lamented the errors his side made in the 3-0 defeat to Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium this evening.

James McClean opened the scoring after 35 minutes, before Joe Allen doubled the hosts’ advantage with a header just before half-time. The Wales international grabbed his second and the Potters’ third of the night five minutes after the break as he curled in from the edge of the box.

Jones said: “For 35 minutes we came to Stoke and reasonably controlled the game, I don’t remember them having an effort on our goal. Ryan Tunnicliffe has got a great opportunity in the six yard box, but doesn’t pull the trigger.

“Then an individual effort, all of a sudden we are one-nil down. Trying to attack, we get picked off, two-nil. We tried to change a few things at half-time with bringing George and Glen on for a bit more solidity. Another individual error and you’re 3-0 down.

“It’s not frustrating, it’s impossible. It’s happened too often. The result is a result of those errors, you can’t play at this level and give goals to the opposition – that’s what we’re doing at the moment.

“You have to measure, we’ve had 21 games, we’re fourth bottom, so it’s job done at this moment in time. But obviously the job won’t be done if we keep making those errors and that’s where the work is in the short term, and in the long term - we make sure we improve on what we have got.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=OyqIgViXCr4& - Graeme Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOacOjW3eRA – Match highlights

Timid Hatters slump to defeat at rivals Stoke

Championship: Stoke City 3 Luton Town 0

Luton’s woeful away form continued as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by relegation rivals Stoke City this evening.

The question before kick-off was could Luton do it on a cold night in Stoke, and unfortunately, the answer was a resounding no.

Once more the defeat was the Hatters’ own doing too, with all three goals avoidable, as they failed to build on Saturday’s morale-boosting win over Wigan Athletic.

The result means Town have now lost their last six on the road, scoring three times, but more worryingly, shipping 20 goals, a number of them through their own mistakes.

Boss Graeme Jones made one change to the team that beat the Latics, with club captain Alan Sheehan back in for his first Championship start of the season, Dan Potts unable to recover from his groin injury.

Midfielder Glen Rea was also on the bench, his first involvement since December, on-loan Mancester City youngsters Luke Bolton out due to illness.

Town should have been trailing on seven minutes, when a corner was met by Ryan Shawcross from a matter of yards, hitting the underside of the bar, before being grabbed by a grateful James Shea.

The Potters had another decent opportunity, Sam Clucas volleying off target from the edge of the box after being picked out by Tom Ince’s cross.

Luton created their first real opening on the half hour, when Luke Berry did wonderfully to find Ryan Tunnicliffe inside the area, but the midfielder took too long, allowing Danny Batth to come across and block.

Just when the Hatters looked to have drawn the sting out of their hosts’ attack, with the home fans starting to turn, they fell behind on 37 minutes, guilty of yet more ill-judged passing in their own half.

Under no real pressure, the Hatters forced keeper Shea into a rushed clearance, and with Stoke suddenly snapping into their challenges, they forced a mistake from Andrew Shinnie, who lost the ball, James McLean sent racing clear to fire through Shea for the opener.

The hosts should have doubled their lead five minutes before the break, as with Town’s defence nowhere to be seen, Clucas was found in acres of space, denied by the outstretched glove of Shea.

Stoke might have led their lead extended through another defensive error, Pearson’s back header too short for Shea, allowing Sam Vokes to prod past the keeper, only for Sheehan to clear off the line.

However, City did have second on the stroke of half time, McLean getting to the byline and crossing for the diminutive Joe Allen to somehow head home completely unmarked.

Luton boss Jones made two alterations at the break, bringing on the weekend match-winner George Moncur, plus Rea, for his first appearance of the season.

However, the change didn’t work, as after being booked within 60 seconds, Rea then had his pocket picked by Allen, who strolled through without a challenge to be seen, sidefooting past Shea from 18 yards.

Town looked to reduce the deficit, Moncur finding Harry Cornick who could only slice tamely wide.

Allen went close to his hat-trick, seeing his effort deflect narrowly off target after a neat move.

Ince almost added a fourth late on, but Shea was there to divert it behind, as Luton now face another away trip this weekend to Preston North End, fresh from beating promotion-chasing Fulham.

Potters: Jack Butland, Tom Edwards, Stephen Ward, Joe Allen, Liam Lindsay, Tom Ince, Sam Vokes ( Mame Diouf 79), James McLean, Ryan Shawcross (C, Danny Batth 15), Sam Clucas (Nick Powell 82), Jordan Cousins.

Subs not ued: Adam Federici, Scott Hogan, Nathan Collins, Ryan Woods.

Hatters: James Shea, James Bree, Alan Sheehan (C Jacob Butterfield 88), Matty Pearson, Sonny Bradley, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Andrew Shinnie (Glen Rea 46), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Luke Berry (George Moncur 46) James Collins, Harry Cornick.

Subs not used: Simon Sluga, Callum McManaman, Lloyd Jones, Kazenga LuaLua.

Booked: Collins 30, Rea 46, Lindsay 50.

Referee: Jarred Gillet.

Attendance: 20,216 (769 Luton).

Jones will make changes in January after losing patience with Town's individual errors

Luton chief Graeme Jones will look to make changes to his squad in the January transfer window another error-strewn performance saw Town beaten 3-0 at relegation rivals Stoke City this evening.

The Hatters had been more than holding their own in the first period, before gifting the Potters two goals in the final 10 minutes of the half, the first coming when Andrew Shinnie was caught in possession.

They then allowed the smallest man on the pitch, Joe Allen, the freedom of the area to head home a second on the stroke of half time

Moments after the break, Glen Rea, on for his first appearance of the season, had his pocket picked by Allen, who notched his second of the night, strolling through to beat James Shea, with Luton unable to hit back.

Jones said: “It’s not frustrating, it’s impossible, it’s too many (mistakes), it’s happened too often.

“The result is a result of those errors. You can’t play at this level of football and give goals to the opposition and that’s what we’re doing at the moment.

“For 35 minutes, I thought we came to Stoke, reasonably controlled the game, I can’t remember them having an effort on our goal.

“Ryan Tunnicliffe had a great opportunity in the six yard box, we don’t pull the trigger, an individual error, all of a sudden we’re 1-0 down.

“Then trying to attack, we get picked off, 2-0. We try to change a few things at half time, bringing George (Moncur) on and Glen on to give us a bit more solidity, and another individual error and you’re 3-0 down.

“I can’t do anything until January the first, I’ve got to get the best out of what I’ve got, that’s the truth, that’s what I’ve been doing all along, and I’m going to have to have a long term plan.”

When asked if there would be funds available in January, Jones continued: “Nobody’s told me any different.

“I think you have to measure we’re 21 games in, fourth bottom of the table, so it’s job done at this moment in time.

“But the job won’t be done if we keep making those errors, and that’s where the work is in the short term and the long term we need to make sure we improve on what we’ve got.

“Ultimately they (the players) need to take responsibility and we’re talking about tactics, I’ll take responsibility for the tactics.

"Now for 35 minutes, were the tactics working? No problem at all, a great understanding.

"What you can’t do is shoot yourself in the foot, that’s exactly what we did tonight, gave ourselves another mountain to climb.

“Saturday we’re 1-0 down, we got back in the game, won the game eventually, but you can’t keep doing it and at the minute, that’s our Achilles heel.”