Luton Town v Barnsley: Under-fire Poya Asbaghi determined to win critics over

His unfortunate run has equalled the club record of league games without a victory at the start of a Reds’ manager’s tenure. It is shared with Tim Ward, who set the record across separate seasons in different divisions in 1953.

Should Barnsley fail to win this evening, then Asbaghi will make unwanted history and the criticism from disgruntled supporters is likely to become even more intense.

To his credit, Asbaghi is not feeling sorry for himself and will take any stick firmly on the chin.

He said: “I do understand the disappointment from fans in terms of the season that the club have had. As a manager, you have to be ready to take a lot of the criticism which comes towards you.

“You cannot feel sorry for yourselves, you have to understand that.

“You cannot let it affect your work and have to work every day with the things that you can control and improve.

“The only way to get less criticism is not to be talking good in the media, but to win games, which is where the focus is.

“The best thing is if you can get a lot of positive things and people complimenting you. But I do not tend to listen too much.

“As a coach, you are never as good as they say you are when you are winning games and never as bad as they say you are when you are losing games. The truth is somewhere in between.

“If you listen too much, you will think you are so much better than you are when you are winning and feel that you are worthless when you are losing. You cannot get caught in all that as a coach.”

The 36-year-old’s desire to fight on has also not been affected by results thus far either.

He added: “I like challenges and have always been in challenging situations and I am not afraid of them.

“Winning some games with the right confidence means I still think we can turn things around.”

Last six games: Luton WLWDWW; Barnsley WLLLLL.

Referee: A Davies (Hants).

Last time: Luton 1 Barnsley 2, April 5, 2021; Championship.