Doughty insists Town's players haven't been dwelling on Watford defeat ahead of Sunderland clash

Luton’s players haven’t been dwelling on their awful derby day defeat at Watford as they prepare to face Sunderland this weekend according to summer signing Alfie Doughty.

The former Stoke and Charlton attacker was making just his second league start for the Hatters at Vicarage Road, with the visitors’ most anticipated game of the season quickly becoming a horror show, going on to lose 4-0 against their biggest rivals.

However, the Town squad haven’t let it affect them in their build-up to facing the Black Cats, as Doughty said: “It’s always tough when it’s a derby day and something like that happens, but you can’t really dwell on it.

“It’s gone now, I think the boys knew how to react to it and I think by Saturday we’re going to show everyone.

“As a footballer you always know what rivalries there are.

"You’ve got Manchester and you’ve got London and South London, so we all knew it was going to be a big game, it was just unfortunate we didn’t perform to our best.

“If anything it will probably help us now as it definitely shows what we’re really about.

"I think Sunderland on Saturday now we’ve got to prove that and I think it will be a good reaction.”

Having conceded twice in the first half, Luton had looked like they were capable of mounting a comeback in the second period, Tom Lockyer and Gabe Osho just unable to turn in James Bree’s corner from close range.

If that had gone in, Doughty knows it could well have been a better outcome for his side, as he continued: “If we scored in that second half, I think it would have definitely been a different game.

“Everyone knows momentum is the best attack sometimes, but we didn’t get up and unfortunately it ended up being worse.”

Luton were hit by a sickness bug ahead of the contest that saw Henri Lansbury drop out, while Dan Potts and Luke Berry withdrew on the morning of the contest, Sonny Bradley struggling in the first half as well, replaced at the interval.

Doughty added: “It was unexpected.

"It didn’t really change much, but it doesn’t help when you’re focusing on so much before the game and then you have a change just before it.

"We just weren’t at it that day, that’s the only thing.”