WARRIORS captain Marvelous Nakamba and his English Championship side Luton are tottering towards a second successive relegation as wins continue to be elusive.
On Wednesday, Nakamba was an unused substitute and watched from the sidelines as his side’s winless run stretched to ten games.
The midfielder has not seen action in the last two matches where he was kept on the bench.
On Wednesday, they were handed a 2-0 defeat by Sunderland and now sit rock bottom on the table, with grim prospects of dropping to the third tier league after being relegated from the Premier League last season.
The defeat marked a run of 13 defeats in their last 14 matches on the road.
The Hatters, as they are affectionately known, last won in December last year when they defeated Derby at home.
Nakamba last played on January 25 when Luton lost at home to Millwall.
He lasted 75 minutes before he was hooked off in that match.
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Before that he had played 90 minutes against Oxford United and against Preston.
His manager Matt Bloomfield has not started hitting panic buttons yet with 31 of 46 games having been played so far.
He is optimistic that they can avoid relegation as they are still with a third of the matches to play in the league and are only two points from safety as it stands.
“There’s still a third of the season left so there’s no panic for us. We have to be realistic in where we are, of course we have spoken about that, but I have to be consistent. We have to be consistent in our behaviour for the lads to be consistent in their performances out on the pitch,” Bloomfield told Luton Today.
“There’s no point getting irrational or erratic at this moment in time, it’s about us being consistent and sticking to what we believe in and what we know will work. We understand the situation, there was no underestimating that when we came through the door and there’s no underestimating it right now. We know where we are but we believe in what we’re doing and we’ll make sure we improve and get success.”
Bloomfield replaced Rob Edwards, who brought Nakamba to Luton from Aston Villa. He is still trying to get a winning formula and for the last two matches, Nakamba became a victim of his search for the right codes.
Bloomfield said they have to remain calm in their bid to beat the drop.
“Of course, it’s a concern (being bottom). We understand where we are at the table, we understand the situation we’re in, but we will remain calm and consistent, as it’s the only way we get ourselves out of this,” he said.
“We understood when we came through the door, we understand now, and we are absolutely hellbent on improving the situation and that will not change. I’ve just said to the boys in there, we’ll stand shoulder to shoulder. It’s not just about me walking into a situation or the players; it’s about all of us together as we’re in this together.”
Warriors coach Michael Nees will be hoping Nakamba gets some action ahead of the next set of World Cup qualifiers set for mid next month.
Zimbabwe will play Benin, possibly in Durban, South Africa before they travel to Nigeria for another Group J qualifier for the next Fifa World Cup tournament.
