Luton captain Sonny Bradley says he won’t go down without a fight after nine years trying to get back to the Championship.
Town return to action on Saturday June 20, with a home clash against Preston North End, the first on nine games packed into a month that will determine the club’s fate.
They sit second from bottom and six points from safety, but before Coronavirus enforced the football shutdown in March, the Hatters had only suffered one defeat in their last six games.
While chief executive Gary Sweet has outlined that relegation will cost the club £6million, the players have been boosted by the return of former manager Nathan Jones, who has been brought back to give Town the best chance of a great escape.
Skipper Bradley, who began his career at second tier Hull City, said: “The spirit in our dressing room has never gone away and it won’t do.
“When it comes to figures and finances, I haven’t seen what Gary said about how much we’d save if we stayed in the Championship, but for me, it’s a no-brainer as well, for the boys at this football club.
“I speak for myself, I’ve been working hard for the last nine years to get back in the Championship and prove that I am good enough to play at this level and I certainly don’t want to go down now, after one season.
“So, individually, as players, we’ve all got something to fight for, not only financially, but our Championship status and I’ve been fighting for years to get back here, I don’t just want one season here with the football club, I want several.”
In any other year, footballers would be on their summer break, but they return after three months away to complete a campaign interrupted by a global pandemic. Bradley said: “It’s mentally just as tough for us as it has been for the rest of the nation, so in that respect it’s not the same rest, but for the legs and for the body, we’ve had a chance to manage ourselves a lot better.
“I wasn’t sure what sort of condition the boys would be in but I’m pleasantly surprised, everybody looks really good.”
He added: “Speaking for this group of boys and this football club, when it comes to fielding a squad for the next nine games, I can’t see it being a problem.”
