Woeful defensive display sees Hatters hammered by Stoke

A shocking defensive performance from Luton saw the Hatters comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Stoke City this afternoon, with a display that was without doubt one of, if not their worst of the season.

Having received plenty of plaudits for their efforts on the road so far, picking up six clean sheets and keeping out the likes of former Premier League side Bournemouth recently, a repeat of that solid base never ever looked likely at the Bet 365 Stadium.

A pale shadow of themselves, Glen Rea in particular struggling throughout the 90 minutes, with a number of misplaced passes and missed challenges, allowed Stoke to walk the ball into the net not just once but twice, and had it not been for keeper Simon Sluga, the deficit might have been greater in the latter stages.

One shot on target was all Luton could muster at the other end too, with Angus Gunn the latest home keeper to enjoy an easy afternoon against the Hatters, who have now failed to score in nine games out of 16 away from home.

This all came against a Potters team who had struggled recently, going 11 games without a win before Tuesday night and had only managed to score more than once on four occasions on home soil, something that they managed to do this time with a worrying ease for those of a Luton persuasion.

The Hatters made four changes to the side, with Tom Lockyer and Matty Pearson missing out through injury, Danny Hylton and Kal Naismith dropping to the bench.

In came James Bree for the first time since the FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, plus Martin Cranie, Harry Cornick and Jordan Clark too.

The hosts had former Luton loanee Rhys Norrington-Davies starting, with the Sheffield United full back available following a three game suspension.

Lining up with three at the back, Rea in the centre of Sonny Bradley and Cranie, Town were almost staring at a deficit inside 20 seconds, Nick Powell shooting over from outside the box.

The hosts had much the better of the opening 10 minutes, forcing a number of corners, but Luton defended doggedly, with Stoke unable to test Sluga from their numerous set-plays.

With 17 on the clock, the Hatters almost had the breakthrough as a long cross into the box saw Potters keeper Gunn left in no-man's land, but Rea couldn't climb high enough to divert the ball into the empty net.

After looking like they were growing into the game, Town were then undone in disappointing fashion on 20 minutes as a ball forward was missed by Bradley, who slipped as he tried to challenge Fletcher.

That left the Scottish international with a clean run on Sluga, and he was incredibly unselfish to pass past the Croatian for Powell to just walk the ball into the empty net.

Luton looked for an immediate response, Harry Cornick firing wide from 15 yards, but City remained in the ascendancy, with Sluga doing well to beat Fletcher to a dangerous cross, the forward looked like he was destined to make it 2-0.

As the half wore on, it was becoming increasingly important that the visitors got through to the break without falling further behind, as they were clearly second best in the opening 45.

With moments to go, Town did have brief spell of pressure, Clark picking up a long crossfield pass and driving into the area, unleashing a fierce effort that was blocked by the covering Harry Souttar.

After the interval, Luton altered their formation, moving to a four man defence with Rea in the holding role, but he was booked early on for clattering Powell, the free kick seeing Souttar head straight at Sluga.

Rea tried to restore parity from 25 yards, slicing waywardly behind, as did Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu when the ball dropped to him on the edge of the area.

Fletcher's powerful header was well wide for Stoke, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, whose passing had been off for large parts, found the run of Clark, although he snatched at his effort from 20 yards, dragging off target.

Sluga had to be alert to prevent Powell from doubling his and City's tally, a low cross missed by the swinging boots of Collins, turning it away from the bottom corner and then collecting Joe Allen's daisycutter.

Chances were now starting to be created at both ends, Clark's blast plucked out of the air by Gunn, but any realistic thoughts that Luton had of forcing a comeback were pretty much done on 63 minutes.

Joe Allen managed to send over a cross from the right and Bree didn't get off the ground, allowing Powell to climb highest and muscle his header into the net with Sluga rooted to the spot.

Boss Jones brought on Joe Morrell and Ryan Tunnicliffe for Mpanzu and Bree, the former on for his first Championship action in over two months, which saw Rea back into defence once more.

Luton might have conceded again with 15 minutes left, Sluga trying to shepherd the ball behind for a goal kick by the corner flag, only to lose out to Sam Clucas, the home sub's shot failing to roll into the empty net.

Town were then caught out badly on 80 minutes when Cranie's pass to Rea saw the defender get into an awful mess when trying to leave the ball and block off Clucas, crumpling into a heap on the floor.

That allowed Clucas to go clean through on Sluga, passing the ball around the keeper for Fletcher to become the second player to walk into the net.

Stoke almost had another too, Sluga pulling off a stunning reaction save to claw away Sam Vokes' close range header, as Jones brought on Hylton, Elijah Adebayo and George Moncur, with the game already long gone.

Sluga came to the rescue in the closing stages once more as some further dreadful defending saw James McClean through after a five on one attack, but the keeper spread himself bravely to deny the Irish international.

The final whistle sounded, a blessed relief for the Hatters as they miserably trudged off the pitch, with the only consolation being they remained eight points clear of the relegation zone, although that buffer will surely be trimmed if they produce any more repeats of this horror show.

Potters: Angus Gunn, Joe Allen ©, Danny Batth, Tommy Smith, Jacob Brown (Jack Clarke 74), Steven Fletcher, Nick Powell (John Obi Mikel 64), Jordan Thompson (Sam Clucas 64), Josh Tymon (James McClean 74), Harry Souttar, Rhys Norrington-Davies.

Subs not used: Adam Davies, Sam Vokes, James Chester, Tashan Oakley-Boothe, Jordan Cousins.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, James Bree (Joe Morrell 67), Dan Potts, Martin Cranie (George Moncur 83), Sonny Bradley ©, Glen Rea, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu (Ryan Tunnicliffe 67), Jordan Clark, Harry Cornick (Elijah Adebayo 83), James Collins Danny Hylton 83).

Subs not used: James Shea, Kal Naismith, Kazenga LuaLua, Luke Berry.

Bookings: Brown 8, Cranie 26, Collins 31, Rea 47.

Referee: Robert Jones.