Rob Edwards has rejected claims that last night’s 2-1 victory over Stoke City is a “turning point” for Luton but hailed his side for the restoration of confidence, belief and bravery.
There’s no denying that, inside Kenilworth Road, Elijah Adebayo’s 90th minute winner felt significant when set against Town’s woeful performance against Swansea on Saturday which, despite the 1-1 scoreline, sparked boos at the final whistle.
Against the Potters, the performance was significantly better from the first whistle, but then former transfer target Tom Cannon put City ahead with their first attack on six minutes. With ten defeats in their 19 Championship games before last night, that has all too often seen the Hatters sink into their shells.
But Carlton Morris equalised in the 24th minute of a first half that the hosts dominated and, though Stoke imposed themselves more on the second half, it was the Hatters that still carved out the best chances and, in the end, found a way to win.
Considering their flagging form, Adebayo’s third goal in three games could be the moment Luton kick on to better things, though Edwards is taking a measured approach, despite the suggestions that it was a big result for his side.
“Everyone’s saying that to me,” he said, adding: “I don’t know. In this last nine games, we’ve had good nights and good days and good results here (Kenilworth Road). I think the way it the way it happened, obviously winning late always adds to that, euphoria.
“We’ve got to go back it up now. I’m not going to go talking, saying, ‘yeah, this is a turning point’ or ‘this feels big’, because getting another game comes around quickly and you get slapped in the face.
“So we’ve got to make sure we just concentrate on doing our job, try and keep our heads down and work really, really hard for each other.”
As ever, the relentless Championship schedule means a quick shift focus to the next challenge, which is arguably even steeper, as a trip to in-form Blackburn on Saturday will be one of the hardest ways to end a run of six straight away-day defeats.
But, though Town must look forward, there is merit in acknowledging just how steep the improvement was for an injury-hit Hatters from the disgruntlement against Swansea last Saturday, to the delight against Stoke on Tuesday night.
“It’s been a big challenge,” Edwards said of changing that mindset in just three days, adding: “A lot of thought goes into it, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of work from everybody. Not just obviously me, the whole group, everyone. And then trying to get the right message across to the players without overloading them with information, because at the moment that’s probably not what they need.
“It’s trying to get the right bits there to them that they can handle, and trying to frame it in the right way for them to feel a bit freer, to be able to take more risks.
“So the messaging has probably been the biggest challenge to not pick loads of faults in what was a difficult performance on the weekend. There was still good things there, which we tried to show.
“There were things here that we didn’t do well that we had to put on them, so we need more of that, but to trying to find a balance in the message was a big challenge. I’m really proud of how we’ve been able to turn that around in the few days.”
And part of that change was not shrinking after Cannon’s early sucker punch and instead of succumbing to the pressure, Luton responded with character that will now set the bar for future outings.
“That was huge for us,” Edwards said, adding: “That’s probably our biggest thing, probably more away from home. But it could still affect us here with how the feel was at the end of the game on the weekend and then going 1-0 down early. It’s almost like, oof, which way is everyone going to go now?
“So the reaction was great because if the reaction would have turned everyone into their shells and we’d have gone under, then the whole place would have been toxic, wouldn’t it? It would have been really difficult night for us.
“So the reaction from the players was brilliant, really good. And that in turn then transmitted to the supporters and I thought the fans were right with the lads, which was great.
“We had to be quite brave. We didn’t have many defenders on the pitch. You see the makeup of the team. We went for it. We had about three defenders and six forwards and you know Clicker’s (Jordan Clark) learning that midfield role more now, but he’s still an attacking midfielder, really. So we tried to be really brave.”
It’s that manner of the victory which serves as a reminder of the potential in Luton squad. Though it wasn’t a flawless performance, it was one filled with the kind of determination that fans want to see.
“We had more of a purpose to us,” Edwards said, adding: “Even if it didn’t come off, you could see that they’re trying to take someone on or trying to make that overlap, or whatever, and try and affect them with forward runs.
“And we’ve got more numbers in the box. All right, the quality at times of the crossing wasn’t quite there, but we’re trying to do those right things. We created some really good chances. I think we should have probably scored more in two, but luckily, it was it was enough for us in the end.
“They were brave and after going 1-0 down as well, they didn’t didn’t go under, showed good character, which is some of the stuff that we’ve been speaking about that we’ve struggled with at times this year. So that was really pleasing.
“There was more of a confidence, more of a belief, there was more bravery shown, there was more risk taking, there was more commitment to go and run forward, get numbers in the box.
“All the stuff that we’d asked, they tried to do. We weren’t perfect, there was lots of mistakes, but there always is, we’re human beings. But it was better and we won, so it’s kind of all that matters at the moment.”
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