Luton boss is urged by an ex-Liverpool and England midfielder to get well for a critical seven days in Town’s attempt to survive.
Soon, Hatters will play three opponents from the bottom half of the table.
In the wake of Saturday’s devastating loss to Aston Villa, Town manager Rob Edwards has been urged by former Liverpool and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp to get over his disappointment. These next seven days could determine whether the Hatters will play Premier League football again next season.
After watching Luton come back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to draw level thanks to goals from Tahith Chong and Carlton Morris, the Town manager would have believed with a few minutes remaining on the weekend that his team would at the very least add another point to their total when taking on Unai Emery’s top four-chasing visitors at Kenilworth Road. As they have, however, done at home against Burnley, Liverpool, and Arsenal, the Hatters then folded at the crucial moment. Moussa Diaby was given enough time to deliver a cross from the right, which caused Issa Kabore to fold at the back post. Villains substitute Lucas Digne then headed past Thomas Kaminski for the eventual winner.
Luton still has a game in hand over both of their relegation rivals, Nottingham Forest and Everton, and with 12 games remaining, they are four points behind the latter and five points ahead of the former. Despite having played one fewer game than both Brentford and Crystal Palace on Saturday, they are also down by six and eight points, respectively. Following their trip to Selhurst Park over the weekend, Luton will play at AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday night before hosting Forest at Kenilworth Road for what looks to be a historic match the following weekend. Redknapp, discussing the upcoming fixtures with Sky Sports, stated: “You can’t lose the Nottingham Forest game, that’s your job.”
“Those are difficult games against Palace and Bournemouth, so you have to attempt to win if you can. Elijah Adebayo is crucial, especially with Carlton Morris up front, so they need to get players fit. You have a chance. (Sambi) Lokonga in midfield is crucial because he provides you with that defensive consistency; Gabe Osho did not play. They don’t want to take too many chances unless they lose them for the entire season, therefore I believe Rob will be trying to ask his team to get them fit if they can.
“After that, you have some more difficult games (against Spurs and Arsenal), but you must approach them separately. Luton’s season depends heavily on those three games; if they win, everything shifts and goes right around. They’ve been in every game I’ve watched, at home most of the time, forget the FA Cup match; Man City can harm anyone, but today that hurt him. I’ve seen Rob Edwards do a lot of lost interviews and he’s usually really positive, but you could tell he was really uncomfortable. He will need to get back up, enter the dressing room, and not only get himself but also his players up.
