He bagged the first of five goals on the night and the 22-year-old is now settling in well to life as a Luton Town player, scoring his second goal for the Hatters against the Eagles with a superb finish from 20-yards.
“I have that in my locker,” Mendes Gomes admitted. “I hadn’t done it much last season but if you get some space as a forward player then you have to hit the target and put it in.
“I demand a lot from myself, but I also know that it is early doors and it is about gaining fitness, but it was good to get the goal.”
Now three matches into his career with the club, the Spaniard said: “Pre-season is about getting to know your teammates and learning from each other’s game to be ready for the first match of the season. You make a few mistakes, but it is about learning from them and getting to know each other.
“It is about the fitness, we will be looking to get some 90 minutes in at some point and be ready. The championship is a tough league and the way the gaffer wants us to play requires a lot of fitness and we are looking to add that to ourselves.”
He also praised the fans for making his transition period that bit easier, adding: “It is always nice to play in front of the fans. It is my second game in front of them and Luton fans are unbelievable, they have showed me a lot of love since I arrived at the club, and it is always nice to play in front of them.”
Likewise, Mendes Gomes added that Nathan Jones has helped him settle: “You know what the manager wants from you, he is always clear and I think here is the right place for me to develop and the relationship I have with him is top class.”