Mindset is key for Mengi as Luton defender stays confident ahead of massive Everton clash

Luton defender Teden Mengi insists his side will go into Friday night’s clash against Everton with the mindset that they are going to remain in the Premier League this season.

The Hatters’ task got that little bit harder when beaten 2-1 by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, suffering a 10th defeat from their last 13 top flight matches. It meant Town once more missed the chance to climb out of the bottom three, although Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday ensured they are still only a point from safety.

Second bottom Burnley are well and truly in the mix though too, just a point behind Luton, who can take the lead in the battle to stay up on Friday, hosting a Toffees side who are now assured of another campaign in the top flight themselves having beaten Brentford 1-0 at the weekend. Despite their poor run of form at just the wrong time, Luton having now lost their last three matches, conceding 12 goals, Mengi doesn’t think the players’ spirits will be low ahead of entertaining Sean Dyche’s side.

He said: “We prepare with the mindset that we’re going to stay in the league. We go in with full confidence because really and truly we’ve got nothing to lose at all. I’ve got full confidence in the team that we can do what it takes to stay in the league. It (Wolves loss) doesn’t leave us in a bad position but we go into those games with full confidence.

“It’s a good game for us to look forward to, especially at home with our fans, so we have that advantage. Forgetting about the run that we’ve been on, we’re going into the game with full confidence that we can beat them, believing we can stay in the league, that’s what we’re going to aim to do.”

Mengi, who has had a hugely impressive first season with Luton, winning his first England U21 cap recently, did think there were some bright spots to be had from the weekend’s loss to Gary O'Neil’s top-10 chasers, especially having suffered successive 5-1 defeats in their two matches beforehand, losing at Manchester City and then being thrashed at home by Brentford.

He continued: “There’s positives to take in my opinion. There was definitely a reaction from last week, we didn’t give up, we got the last goal of the game which is a positive and we kept going right until the end, so there’s definitely positives to take in comparison to the game last week. We lost the game, but we’ve got three very important games, two home games, so there’s still light.

“The game’s done now though, we’re focusing on the games that we’ve got to come. We can’t dwell on it, we don’t have time to dwell on anything, we’ve just got to look forward to the games we’ve got coming. Two very important home games coming and West Ham away.”

Mengi is one of a number of players, particularly in defence, who have had to play through the pain barrier in recent weeks while suffering with a knee problem, but he is determined to keep putting his body on the line for the cause, saying: “I’m feeling good, I’m feeling great. I’m willing to play and help the team, so I’m ready to do the business as always. We all want to play our part in the team when we can. We’ll all do whatever it takes to get on the pitch and to fight to stay in this league which is everyone’s goal, so we’ll go above and beyond to do that.”

Town were, as they have been all season, given a terrific ovation after defeat at Wolves by the 3,000 travelling fans who had made the trip, and Mengi has urged the supporters to be on it from the start when Everton are the visitors under the lights at Kenilworth Road. He added: “The fans have been brilliant home and away, I think it’s really important that we can give something back to them.

"I feel like we just have a different sort of fight with the fans behind us. With the fans we can just keep going, so I really just encourage the fans to stay behind us and stay with us like they have all season and just get us over the line. Everyone’s got chemistry at this club, it is important that we keep going strong. There’s definitely a connection between everyone in this team, we just need to kick on really.”

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