Kevin Gallen celebrates his second and Luton's third against Kidderminster
Kevin Gallen is determined to fight for a new contract at Luton Town and hopes that his double strike against Kidderminster will keep him in the team so he can help shoot the Hatters to promotion.
The 34-year-old striker was put on the transfer list in January with Kevin Nicholls and Keith Keane and, though he angered manager Richard Money with comments in media, he says he has since set about working hard to prove he can still be a key member of the team.
He linked up with in-form striker Tom Craddock in the win over Wrexham and then fired himself into double figures for the season after earning a start against the Harriers on Tuesday.
“It hasn’t panned out the way I wanted it to,” he said after the match. “I’ve been disappointed with being put on the transfer list and I’ve said before that I’ll try my best to fight for a new contract. I’m just getting my head down, training and playing as well as I can to hopefully change the manager’s mind to be here next season.
“I enjoy playing here very much, the fans have been good to me and my aim is to be here next season. I want to get promoted and be a Football League player with Luton.
“It’s a situation that I wasn’t happy with but it’s one I’ve been dealt with. I need to change the minds of people who are in charge and the only way to do that is to play well and score goals and get us to where we want to be.”
His partnership with Craddock has come just at the right time after Money called for two of his strikers to click and fire them to promotion and he said is happy they are both banging in the goals.
“Me and Tommy played well on Saturday together and we’ve got five goals in three games which is good going,” he said. “There’s been times when we’ve been playing one up front and it’s a difficult role for a centre forward. I prefer playing with someone and linking up with them.
“At the end of the day it’s about what’s best for the team. Let’s get promoted.
”We’ve got to keep doing what we do and hope that teams slip up, but if we go into the play-offs and we carry on this great run then no-one will fancy playing us. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. Let’s just beat Ebbsfleet on Saturday”
Town lost to Liam Daish’s men at Kenilworth Road in January and Gallen has called for a win to stretch their winning streak to five in a row which he knows must continue to bolster a promotion push.
“We need to make it eight and nine on the spin to have any chance [of catching the top two]. It’s a cliché but we have to take every game is it comes, win it and go on to the next game.
“We are hitting a good bit of form and I think there’s bit of belief in the team and the supporters that something could happen.
“Stevenage look the team to catch at the moment. Oxford have had a bit of a wobble but they might come back. The thing is that Stevenage have got to play Oxford and we have to play Stevenage (on April 3).
“It would be great if we could go into the Stevenage game with maximum points. The aim is to put them under as much pressure as possible.
“It’s always harder at the top than it is chasing. I’ve been there before in promotion. There’s more pressure because you’re so near but still so far.
“It’s all to play for and it’s getting exciting. It’s where we want to be and it’s much better than mid table I can tell you. It keeps everyone on their toes and motivated.”