Edwards points to derby day ‘buzz’ that can give Luton ‘extra few per cent’ against Watford

Playing in big Midlands and North-West derbies will give Rob Edwards a sense of what to expect from his first managerial clash against local rivals and he hopes his Luton players can feed off the Kenilworth Road energy against old side Watford.

At the start of the season, the 40-year-old would’ve been looking ahead to the two Hatters versus Hornets fixtures from the perspective of being the manager of the Vicarage Road outfit. 

But he was only in charge for 11 games before the trigger-happy Hornets chief Gino Pozzo swung his axe, so he missed their 4-0 win in the first derby of the season.

Fifty-three days after his exit he was named as the new Luton boss following Nathan Jones’ departure for Premier League Southampton and today he’ll finally get his managerial derby day debut in the first Kenilworth Road edition in front of fans for 17 years. 

But he can draw on local rivalries as a player and Edwards said: “I experienced Villa, Blues, I experienced Wolves and West Brom, played in a couple of those, lost at West Brom, won at Wolves, so experienced both sides of it, Preston, Blackpool, so a few of them on the playing side, they’re always great occasions.

“You never fully know what they’re (players) feeling as I’m not them, but there has been a good buzz and I know they’ll be a lot of people looking forward to this one and we want to make sure we put on a really good performance and I know the lads do too.

“It’s one that I’m really looking forward to, I want to bring out the best in us, we don’t want the difference in the game, or the difference in the atmosphere to affect us in a negative way, we want to use it as a positive to help us.

“I’d be lying if I said I thought it was just a normal game, it’s not, and it’s important to recognise that it’s not, it means more to everyone in the area, means more to supporters, but it can give you an extra few per cent, it really can, when there’s that noise, that atmosphere behind you, like it will be on Saturday, it can really help.”

Though he’ll be managing in his first local derby, Edwards does have experience of promotion when he led Forest Green Rovers to the League Two title last term. 

It was that success that saw Watford come calling in the summer and while the Hertfordshire side sit tenth in the Championship, he’s guided Luton to fourth, with another crack at the play-off very much on the cards, if not automatic promotion. 

Asked if he can draw on his title-winning time at the Gloucestershire club, Edwards said: “The big thing is, we know what gets us success, so I think it’s about maintaining that and being relentless in what we do, and that’s the boring answer, but the right answer.

“We don’t have to do anything different, you can see how hard the lads work, it’s evident, you can see with your own eyes, you can look at the stats, they give everything for the club, in every game, and they do it every day on the training pitch as well.

“So, it’s about being relentless in what we do, that’s all we tried to do last season, it goes us over the line and that’s all I know how, when I’ve been a part of a successful team and that’s been the case.

“There;’s been a great environment, a common goal together to drive each other forward and there’s been a relentlessness in what we do and that’s how you get success in my opinion.”