Hatters winger felt dramatic draw at former side Crystal Palace felt like a win for Luton

Attacker Andros Townsend believes the nature of Luton’s last-gasp draw at his former side Crystal Palace on Saturday made the result feel like a win for the Hatters.

​Town had been looking at a sixth straight loss in all competitions when the clock entered six minutes of stoppage time, trailing to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first half goal. However, with the Eagles failing to make the most of their numerous opportunities, it gave Luton a sniff, and they grabbed it with both hands, Townsend supplying a brilliant cross and Cauley Woodrow flicking his header beyond Sam Johnstone and into the net.

Speaking afterwards, the winger said: “It’s amazing, moments like this it almost feels like a win. It’s such a massive point for us and you look at the table and we’re back within a game of Nottingham Forest, so this could be the game you look back at the end of the season and go, this is the point that kept us up. Everyone’s positive, we’ve got another tough two games to come this week so we hope that this sets us up for a great week ahead.”

Luton have shown their fighting spirit on plenty of occasions this term, coming back from 2-0 down at Nottingham Forest on Townsend’s debut back in October, while also did against Aston Villa the previous weekend, only to concede a late winner themselves. It’s an attribute that the former England international believes is a huge positive, as he continued: “We always feel like we can get something. There’s so many times we’ve been two-nil down, we’ve even been three-nil down against Chelsea and we’ve made comebacks.

"So we know we can do it, when the clock’s ticking down, one goal, it's just one moment of quality and thankfully it was myself that produced that ball and Cauley who were able to provide and score the goal. It was something we were working on after training. The manager said he wanted us to do better in those wider situations with me coming on to my left foot, Cauley and Carlton (Morris) judging the flight off the ball, so we did it and thankfully we were able to pull it off.

"Everyone’s chipping in, whether you’re starting or whether you’re on the bench, whether you’re happy or disappointed, that’s the spirit we need if we’re going to get out of this situation we’re in. I’m always happy to produce whether that be goals, assists, even if it’s just with my legs and my running ability to help the team press high up the pitch, I’m here to help and thankfully I was able to help in producing a goal.”

A win at Bournemouth this evening would see Luton back above the dotted line, leapfrogging Nottingham Forest who they host this weekend. Townsend believes the boost of scoring so late on can give them a huge lift ahead of their trip to the south coast, as he said: ”We’re one good game away from being outside of the drop zone and that’s why for me this point could be so crucial.

"I've been in relegation battles pretty much my whole career, it’s just staying intact at this point of the season, staying within one game of the team above you. We’ve done that, we’re three points off Nottingham Forest and it gives you so much confidence, psychologically when you get into the late stages of the season, to be within a game of survival is so important.

"Once you get cut adrift, six, seven points, mentally it can be tough. We’re three points off Nottingham Forest, we’ve got a game in hand, so it’s within touching distance and we have to take that confidence, take that last five minutes into the game against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest on Saturday and hopefully pick up as many points as possible."

With 11 games of the season to go, Townsend is confident that the Hatters’ positive approach going into games against any side in the top flight could be the deciding factor in the battle to stay up as well, as he said: “Even when I first joined and we were cut adrift at the bottom of the table, we weren’t really going to toe-to-toe with teams, but there was a belief in the dressing room that we were good enough to get out of it.

"Since then we’ve seen the team really grow and turn into a side who are capable of going toe-to-toe with the best sides. So when we come to this place (Selhurst Park), difficult place to go, new manager, the crowd are buzzing, we know we can get a result. We came here for three points, but however everything worked out, last minute goal, we’ll take a point for sure.”

Townsend was afforded a terrific ovation from the Eagles fans after making a return to a club he spent five years at, making over 175 appearances, as he added: “It’s a difficult one as I had five special years here but my last appearance at Selhurst Park was when I ruptured my ACL, so I had mixed feelings. I was a little bit nervous coming on to the pitch, but the fans gave me an amazing reception.

"I’m so grateful to them, they’ve been great with me, but for professional reasons I'm happy that I was able to contribute for my team and help my team come away with a point, but I’ll remember this day for a long time.”