Alfie Doughty | "This is what you call a team, it's a family"

Flying wideman Alfie Doughty promised to keep grinding out the 1-0 wins after yet another solitary goal victory over Bristol City last night - then described the close-knit Hatters squad he is part of as being like "a family".

The 23-year-old returned to the starting line-up after missing Saturday's 1-0 win at Sheffield United to make his 24th appearance in a Town shirt since joining from Stoke City in the summer.

"We love a 1-0 at the moment," said the former Charlton Athletic man. "I think the gaffer’s going to have a heart attack soon if we keep doing that to him, but it was a great result. The past three results, 1-0s, I think we grind them out so well and today was another example."

Although the Robins put Town under a bit of pressure towards the end, the performance from Rob Edwards' side was far from a grind. Full of creativity, pace and endeavour, the Hatters could have been out of sight by the end of a first half in which the visitors had failed to register a single effort on goal, with Carlton Morris' fourth-minute header the only goal.

With a fifth game unbeaten and a fourth 1-0 win in that run, Doughty was asked whether the Hatters were hitting top form at just the right time?

“That’s the best thing about it," he replied, "it’s not luck, we're not luckily winning, we've not scraped 1-0 wins. We’ve played well, could have had more, but at the end of the day, it's a good goal today and good goals in the other games as well. So 1-0, it’s just what you need sometimes."

Having been signed by Nathan Jones last summer, Doughty has revelled in roles down both flanks - and even as a more central attacking midfielder on his debut at Norwich in October - and explained what it feels like to be part of the team now under the leadership of Rob Edwards.

"I think this is what you call a team really, it’s a family, and you can tell by the results week in week out, everyone just is 100 per cent for everyone," said Doughty. "I love playing at the moment, with this team as well. I have the confidence to put the ball in the box and I know I’ve got two big strikers in there and it’s just enjoyable."

On how he is enjoying life at Kenilworth Road, he added: "I love it, I can’t say a bad word about it and I definitely see my future here.

“As a team we can’t stop smiling, and think that’s the reason why we’re getting the results, you can see we’re playing with freedom, playing with a smile on our face and the results speak for themselves."