Luton skipper taking plenty of positives from Town's efforts during Seagulls loss

​​Town defender Tom Lockyer was determined to take a number of positives from his side’s opening Premier League fixture of the season on Saturday, despite finishing up on the end of a 4-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Hatters had held their own for large periods of the game, breached with eight minutes of the first half to go when Solly March headed home, and then reaching 70 minutes still just one behind.

A frantic last 20 plus stoppage time saw the Seagulls score three more times though, Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Evan Ferguson all on target, with Luton managing just the one in reply, Carlton Morris’s penalty opening his and the club’s account in the Premier League.

Speaking afterwards, Lockyer, who was one of 13 players from the 16 Town used to have never featured in the top flight of English football before, said: “Like I said to the lads, you take the sloppiness aside as we’re going to have to learn from that, but you can take a lot of positives from it and a lot of belief.

“There were a lot of us going into it not knowing what to expect and what the Premier League is going to be about.

"Coming to these big stadiums, a lot of press, Sky everywhere, so the first one’s out of the way and we’ve got to look forward now.

"It’s worked quite nicely now (Burnley postponement), we’ve got a bit longer to work on a few things.

"We didn't want to come here and lose and then to get a bit ragged at the end, you get punished don’t you.

"This isn't the Championship anymore, you might have been able to get away with that last year but that certainly doesn't happen here now does it.

“There were a lot of lads making their Premier League debut, not quite sure what to expect, who had to find out a few things the hard way in the end.

"Second, third and fourth goal, you could even say the first as well, if you’re going to let a player with so much quality that much time to pick out a cross you’re going to get punished.

"It was a lot of learning, it's going to give us confidence moving forward and show some things that we can’t do, but there were a lot of players making their debuts.

"A bit of the unknown for a lot of us, so now we can look forward.”

One thing that Lockyer is aware his side needs to improve is their defending, as goals against could be a vital factor behind just who stays in the division this season.

After having such a proud clean sheet record last season, Lockyer knows it won’t be the case this term, as he continued: “It’s tough, Brighton are a fantastic team.

"You’ve seen that last year, you don’t end up in Europe by mistake.

"To come here on the first day was never going to be easy and we were well in it.

"I think two really soft penalties from my opinion, it is what it is, you can’t really touch anyone nowadays in the Premier League, so we'll have to learn from that.

"All four goals, you’re up against real quality now, so you can’t really give people that many chances.

“The timings of the goals were really harsh and then when we change formations and start chasing it, we are bit more open and there's a lot of players in that team with a lot of quality to be able to hurt you.

"When we get a bit ragged, that’s probably our learning curve then to not let it get to threes and fours, because goal difference could be huge come the end of the season.”

The manner in which Town set up to face the Seagulls was also slightly different for Lockyer and his team-mates, as they knew they couldn’t play in exactly the same manner that had seen them reach the top flight last term.

He added: “We never showed any team that respect last season, so it’s a little bit new to us as well.

"We knew we couldn’t come here and do what we did in the Championship as that could have got silly.

"We had to show them respect where it’s due, we couldn’t go fully pressing as they’ll find solutions.

“They’re incredible players, millions of pounds worth of players, so we had to do something a little bit different and with the game off next week, gives us a little bit longer to work on things.”

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