Town midfielder Massimo Luongo highlighted the importance of the first goal as the Blues returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Millwall at Portman Road.

After falling to only their second league defeat of the season at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, Town came out flying and had already opened up a two-goal lead after just 12 minutes thanks to goals from Conor Chaplin and Luongo.

The dominant first half continued when Nathan Broadhead headed a third beyond former Town goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski, marking the eighth straight home league game the Blues have scored at least three goals in, while also setting a new club record of 66 league goals in a calendar year on Suffolk soil.

While the scoreline at half-time was emphatic, Luongo says the fast nature of Town’s start, a common theme earlier on in the season, was the most pleasing aspect of the performance on a cold and misty night in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

“It was a really good game, in the first half we came out of the traps flying,” he said. “Over the last few games we’ve either conceded early or we haven’t started too well, so it was good for us mentally to get that first goal, press, tackles and set the tone of the game.

“We had a lot of good stuff in the first half, whether it be 1-0 or 3-0 it doesn’t matter, we came out of that first half really good.

“The second half was more of a controlled performance, they changed their shape a little bit so they were a little bit more secure. They got the goal but we were quite comfortable and could have made it four or five. A really good day.

“We pride ourselves on the high press and working hard, our running stats are probably up there [with the best] in the league. Over the course of five or six games in a row, the tough period between international breaks, it can be tough but if we start like that every game then we’re in with a chance.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work that way or we’ve been on top and they’ve got a silly goal, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. It was good that today we came out flying and got two early goals which made the game a little bit more our tempo.”

The quality of Town’s attacking play this season has been clear to see, with all three goals on the night a good example which takes their tally to 39 goals in 18 matches this season, the Championship’s leading side in front of goal.

Chaplin and Broadhead both notched their seventh goals of the season, while Luongo himself got his second after scoring the winner against Blackburn Rovers in September.

“Our style of play adds to that,” Luongo stressed. “That highlights how much of a team we are, we’re a hard-working team and everyone has to chip in off the ball by stopping goals and scoring goals.

“It’s a nice ethos of us going forward that we all have to work hard to get wins and to get results.

“I haven’t scored outside the box for a long time, my other one might have been outside or on the edge, but it was still quite far for me. I’m happy with those two.”

The Blues have never lost back-to-back league games under Kieran McKenna, and that run never looked under threat as Town responded well to defeat at the Hawthorns on Saturday.

Luongo was pleased with the reaction to that disappointment, adding that such days are going to happen and a return to Portman Road was a chance to put the result behind them.

He said: “West Brom are a top team and I’ve always struggled playing there. Their players are seasoned pros in the Championship and Premier League, so it was always going to be a tough game.

“If you take the goals away, I don’t think we could say we played amazing and I wouldn’t say we played bad, but the two goals highlighted that it just wasn’t our day.

“But a great reaction, the boys came in on Monday like nothing had happened. The manager showed us a few things on the screen and we pick ourselves up and go again.”

Town move into a busy December just a point behind leaders Leicester City after the Foxes drew at Sheffield Wednesday. However, the gap to third-placed Leeds United remains at seven points.

With seven matches to play before the turn of the year, including mouthwatering clashes with rivals Norwich City, Leeds and Leicester, Luongo is relishing the opportunity and says the Blues have a squad ready for the hectic schedule.

The 31-year-old said: “This period is tough but we’ve got a good squad and a big squad. Everyone’s ready to play and will probably be used, as we’ve shown today with Axel [Tuanzebe] coming in and he doesn’t put a foot wrong.

“We’ve got the capability to change the squad and still produce a good performance. It will be tough but it’s an exciting time, you can come out on one side or the other side during this period before the New Year. It will be interesting to see where we are at the end of it.”

It is fair to say that the Blues enjoy playing at home, having won eight of their nine league matches at Portman Road this season, and 16 of their last 17 stretching back to the final months of the last campaign.

Town are back at home again on Saturday for the visit of Coventry City, another opponent Luongo is expecting a tough test from having reached last season’s play-off final before losing out to Luton Town.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man said: “I think we come here and we give ourselves a good platform to play with. The pitch is unbelievable and the atmosphere is really good. We’re familiar with the stadium, it just has a nice feeling to it and the games are entertaining.

“I know Coventry quite well from last year when they got into the play-offs so they’ll have a point to prove. They haven’t started as well as what you would expect but they’re a really good team with high energy and good players.

“It will be a tough game, I expect we will just go again and try and put in a good performance and hopefully we get some goals and win the game.”

Luongo returned to the starting XI against Millwall having been left on the bench for Saturday’s game at West Brom after travelling with Australia on international duty.

Despite the air miles, Luongo, who now has 45 international caps, says that was not the reason why he did not start at the weekend, adding that the travel did not affect him too much and Jack Taylor was simply preferred by McKenna on that occasion.

“We were on the way back as we played in Australia then played in Kuwait, so I was kind of coming back anyway. It’s when you’re flying straight from Australia back here and you’ve got to play on the Friday night or Saturday that makes it a bit tougher.

“The only thing with international breaks is you don’t really train, you’re always preparing for the match or flying in, so it’s recovery and it’s hard to get a few good training sessions in. I’ve come back here and I’ve had to get on the pitch a little bit and work a bit harder to get back. “The manager just wanted to play someone else [on Saturday] and rightly so.”

With the AFC Asian Cup on the horizon in January, there is the potential for Luongo, as well as teammate Cameron Burgess, to miss up to five league matches if selected and Australia progress deep into the tournament.

“If you know the history of the Socceroos it’s one of very last-minute call-ups,” Luongo said. “When tournaments come around the media hypes up some players, so you never know who is going to get selected or who isn’t.

“I don’t know right now, but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it. I honestly haven’t thought about it.

“It’s just one of them things you’ve got to do, I’m sure when it comes down to it people will speak to me here and they’ll speak to me over there and I can’t really say no. I’ve just got to get my head down and focus on the eight games we’ve got until then.”

Photos: TWTD/Matchday Images

bobble added 10:27 - Nov 30 go the aussies...
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itfcserbia added 14:13 - Nov 30 Nothing against Taylor but Luongo is a class above. Especially without ball, both when Town or opponents are in possession.
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Suffolkboy added 15:01 - Nov 30 Has been another piece of excellent recruitment by ITFC — and hasn’t failed to produce the goods . Fits into this side brilliantly and combines most effectively with SM and those around him ! More of the same please ! COYB
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Linkboy13 added 18:45 - Nov 30 Luongo badly needed a rest and it done him good as he came back with a mom performance against Millwall. Comparing him with Jack Taylor is a little unfair as Taylor is a number 10 as he stated himself the other day.
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oldtimer3 added 07:35 - Dec 1 I believe McKenna knows he needs the experienced players to come to the fore and Luongo certainly did Wednesday night. The quality of the football played at Portman Road is outstanding at times. No wonder the stadium is almost sold out every match even when we are on television. Keep it up lads!
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Marinersnose added 11:29 - Dec 1 Luongo is probably the one player who really bonds the KMK system together and dare I say it but we struggle as a team without him. He’s always available for the ball and looks to get the ball forward. His arrival at the club coincided with our impressive run of wins . As highlighted previously he is a totally different player to Taylor and therefore there can be no comparison. Both have their own skill set. Losing Mass to the Asia Cup would be a huge loss.

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