Luongo: Kicking Off With a Win - Beautiful Monday, 7th Aug 2023 09:38 by Kallum Brisset Town midfielder Massimo Luongo said it was a “beautiful” feeling to start the season with a win following the Blues’ 2-1 victory at Sunderland on their Championship return. Goals from Nathan Broadhead, against his former club, and George Hirst, his first at Championship level, were enough to see Town over the line at the Stadium of Light for their first second-tier victory for four years. Sunderland, play-off semi-finalists last campaign, hit back through Daniel Neil late on after Trai Hume had been sent off, but the Blues saw out 13 additional minutes for a hard-earned three points under the Sky Sports cameras. Luongo admitted the Black Cats’ fast start in front of more than 40,000 home fans caught Town by surprise, but felt his side grew into the game and were value for victory. “It was tough, really tough,” he said. “In the first game the result is brilliant, we take that. Coming here is so hard, I haven't had much joy in my career here. It’s always a tough game, the crowd is massive and all that. “The start of the game was probably a little bit of a shock to us because we want to be front-footed and wanting to press. We want to play quick, be aggressive and suffocate teams but we just couldn’t find a way to get a foothold in the game. We had smaller moments like that in League One but for a good majority of the game, probably not. “I think our counter-attacks could have been a little bit better but, if you’re taking positives from the game, we stuck together and dug deep. I’ve been in teams where it’s tough to see out those games and, although they scored, I did feel quite comfortable. The boys at the back said they felt comfortable and thought we could see out the game. “Thirteen minutes at the end didn’t help but we’re going to have to get used to it. We’re so used to playing such nice football and putting on a show so it’s a little bit different for us, so we’ve got to get used to that. But nonetheless it’s a win.” Luongo says there is extra satisfaction in the manner in which the Blues earned three points, highlighting the step-up in opposition compared to last season in League One. He said: “They’re such a good team with some good individual players. It took two of us at times to deal with one player on the ball and then he shifts it to someone and we need two players on that player, so it was a good group effort. “I don’t know whether they’d be happy with their performance or not, but I come off thinking they’re a good team and we’ve learned a new way of winning. We’ve got that in the locker now and we can push on.” He added: “The group we have want to perform the best. The result might not come but the performance matters more because you can build on that. We can build on this but we also have our identity and we’re very stubborn in the way we want to play. “I’m trying to get around the lads and say ‘That’s a top win’ and we’ve got to celebrate those type of wins. Then we move on, analyse it, learn from it and we’ll try and put our identity on the next game. “But if we have that in the locker, if you’re winning most games in the Championship then the last 20-30 minutes when they’re putting on the pressure it’s good to get that in the first game. “I think our fixtures are quite tough, every game is quite tough but kicking off with a win - beautiful. It was the first game in the Championship for some lads and it probably eases it a little bit for our next game against Stoke.” Luongo is one of the more experienced members of the squad and now has 194 Championship appearances to his name. He says he is more than happy to act as of the senior heads in the dressing room. “Yeah, 100 per cent,” he said. “There’s a few of us, not many but a few of us. As I said, the first half was a shock to the system and you’ve got to realise that these are a good team that got in the play-offs last year. “But a lot of Championship games are like that, we go 1-0 up and suddenly they’ve got four or five men behind you in a box, so you’ve got to deal with it. And then it’s about how good you are on the ball and how good you are at counter-attacking. “Alternatively, you can really hurt teams and today we didn’t do that as well, maybe because it’s Sunderland away with lots of travel and we’re all tired. But the second goal was another great goal and if we can have more moments like that then we’ll be back to our best.”  Reflecting further on the step-up in quality, the Australian said: “It’s tough. I’ve probably had most of my career being that team that has to dig in deep and graft for that away win. They don’t come very easily, so it feels good. “It’s a challenge and when the boys see me and Samy [Morsy] in midfield doing it and Chappers [Conor Chaplin] and Broady [Nathan Broadhead] working their nuts off and making tackles, everyone just gets behind it. The minute one of us is passive or the experienced lads are passive I think it has a ripple effect, so we need to make sure we’re on it. We drive those standards and we need to keep doing it.” Goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky started for the Blues following the news that Christian Walton will miss a number of months with a plantar fascia tear. The Czech shot-stopper produced a fine save onto the woodwork deep into stoppage time on his Championship debut to prevent the Wearsiders from earning a 2-2 draw. “I think Vaz is brilliant,” Luongo said of Hladky. “He’s brilliant off the pitch and he’s unreal on the pitch and on the ball he’s different gravy. “When they’re under the cosh you don’t get to see the saves that the goalkeepers do. With us, it’s always on the ball we want them to be play and be brave so when they pull out saves like that it’s like ‘thank God’ we have two or three keepers that you can put in and pull off saves like that you think ‘alright, we’ve got a chance here if we do our job’.” Luongo highlighted Hirst’s goal as a crucial moment in the game and says the challenges faced at the Stadium of Light will be much more common this season than they were in the third-tier. “The second goal was a big one,” he said. “If we can figure out how to get more moments like that when we’re up against it away from home against a good team. And also just digging in deep and seeing out the game and being comfortable defending and suffering, that’s the main bit. “We didn’t get too many last year, Derby away when we were up and Barnsley away in tough, tight games where quality on the counter showed and then we had to dig in deep. “But more moments like that in the Championship can happen so in the first game of the season we’ve been exposed to probably one of the toughest atmospheres and occasions being 1-0 and 2-0 up and they’re just throwing bodies forward and making it difficult for us, even though they had 10 men it didn’t feel like it. It’s definitely a massive learning curve for us.” The arrival of Jack Taylor from Peterborough United has added extra competition to the centre of midfield, with Lee Evans and Cameron Humphreys also in contention to partner skipper Morsy, while Dom Ball has been utilised as a defender during pre-season. On his place in Kieran McKenna’s side, the 30-year-old said: “I’m at that age where I understand I’m not going to play 46 games in a season. I understand that every game is different and I trust the manager to pick who’s going to play and who’s not suited to that specific game. “When I was younger I’d try and outdo my other midfield opponents but I’m old enough now to help and give my insight if I’m not playing. “When I signed my deal I didn’t think I’m going to play every game, I always knew they were going to being in a midfielder and I was up for that challenge. And when I’m called upon, as I did last year, I try to be as ready as I can.” Luongo highlighted the tough pre-season schedule that prepared the Blues for the Championship campaign, which included two trips to Austria, and confirmed the injury concerns were not serious enough to rule him out of the season opener. “It was only a little nick from the Cambridge game,” he confirmed. “We’ve had a tough pre-season and I didn’t have a pre-season last year because I didn’t have a club. “I think the first two weeks we’ve covered a lot of distance. Probably not my most comfortable period of football, especially the longer running. I can run but not that quick, so it was tough but I think we all feel a lot better from that. “When we went to Austria it almost felt easier thinking ‘Are we training hard enough?’ but I think we had a good base fitness from the first few weeks and today we definitely needed it.” He continued: “I wasn't here last pre-season but everything was escalated because we’ve got a new challenge — we’ve got a Championship challenge. Based on the stats, they showed us that this is where we were and how we compare that to Championship stats. “That’s where we need to be so we’ve just upped everything and tried to replicate Burnley’s and other teams that have gone up with their data and their running. So once we get that then the football is separate, but it does help.” Luongo is still yet to taste defeat since returning to the Blues in January, but says that is not a record that is on his mind. “Well I lost 11 years ago so it doesn’t really count,” he joked. “But I don’t think about that. I just try and get through the game.” On whether the management have spoken to the players about the extra additional time being played this season, of which 13 minutes were indicated after the regular 90 minutes, Luongo said: “Not really. We’ve got five subs so we’ll deal with that, but it is long.”
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