One goal enough as Luton see off Blackpool

Luton Town returned to winning ways as Jordan Clark’s goal saw them beat Blackpool 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.

Clark’s second half goal saw Luton return to winning ways after back-to-back away defeats, with the goal enough to see Jack Wilshere’s team achieve the three points.

The result sees Luton bounce back up to 7th in League One, with the Hatters six points behind Huddersfield in the final play-off place, and having played a game less than the side from West Yorkshire.

Luton had the earlier chances in the game, with Shayden Morris having a strike denied by away keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and the Northern Irish keeper would then make a further save to stop Cohen Bramall’s header crossing the line.

Ashley Fletcher would see a strike blocked for the visitors before Nahki Wells had two efforts, with the striker seeing one effort denied by Peacock-Farrell and another just go wide.

The hosts suffered a blow just after the restart, however, as Bramall was stretchered off following several minutes of on-pitch treatment following an injury sustained after a tackle by Blackpool’s Olly Casey.

A few more chances would come Luton’s way when the game got back underway, with Kasey Palmer and Clark missing the target with strikes before Wells was again denied by Peacock-Farrell.

Luton would grab their opener with 71 minutes on the clock. Joe Johnson’s cross was only half-cleared and it fell kindly for Clark to rifle the ball home to give the Hatters the advantage.

Having offered little in attack until this point, Blackpool began to attack more in the final stages, with Tom Bloxham and Lee Evans narrowly failing to hit the target while the visitors had a strong penalty appeal rejected by the referee.

But despite 12 minutes of added time, the Hatters ground out the win to pick up a first win in four outings.

Wilshere’s side now face the challenge of trying to make it back-to-back wins, with Luton’s next assignment seeing them take on Bradford City at Kenilworth Road next weekend.