Luton Town: ‘I’m there to save them, Jack Marriott is there to score them,’ says Mark Tyler

Keeper Mark Tyler hailed the goalscoring prowess of his team-mates and striker Jack Marriott in particular after he came off the bench at Hartlepool on Saturday to blast a four-minute double in the 4-1 League Two win.

That’s the third time this term the 21-year-old has bagged a brace, and he now leads the club’s goalscoring charts with six, even though he is yet start a Football League game since signing in the summer.

“That’s why Jack has come here,” said Tyler, adding: “The gaffer [John Still] knew what he was about. He’s got his opportunity because Craig [Mackail-Smith] has come off [with a hamstring strain], but he’s got his two goals.

“He always scores goals, he’s like that in training. He’s a similar player to Craig and if you put it in the box he’ll be there to finish it.”

As a team, Town are hitting their straps and have smashed 15 goals in six League Two away matches, having only scraped 17 on their travels all last season.

Their tally of 21 goals has only been bettered in the country’s top four divisions by Tuesday’s Johnstone Paint Trophy opponents Gillingham, with 22.

Tyler said: “No disrespect to last year’s team, but the quality we’ve got up front, we know we can score goals. We do a lot of shooting in training and it’s great that we’re scoring more goals.”

But Luton’s 4-1 win at Hartlepool was only made possible by four outstanding saves from Tyler as he prevented Rakish Bingham from taking home the match ball.

“I’m there to save them, Jack is there to score them,” he said, adding: “It was a battle between me and Bingham and luckily I came out on top.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to make those saves and have a quiet afternoon but I think we were a little too open. The gaffer said it in our little [post-match] huddle. We need to improve on that but we’ll do that on the training ground.

“I’m there to make saves and luckily I’m playing well at the moment. Everyone has got to play well to keep their place. We’ve got great competition for places and every week you’ve got to be on top of your game.”

Town are now League Two’s form team and sit 10^th in the standings, just two points off the play-offs, having recovered from a terrible first month of the campaign where they failed to win a game.

Tyler said: “We know we are slow starters. The guys are now realising what a good team we are. We put pressure on ourselves to win every game and to come away from Morecambe on a Tuesday night [with a 3-1 win] and Hartlepool – two difficult away trips – we’re delighted with six points.”