Fans saw McGuinness ‘at his best,’ says Edwards as boss explains ‘back to basics’ approach

Rob Edwards believes Luton fans have now seen Mark McGuinness and the Hatters at their best, thanks to the “clarity” in the way they approached and demolished arch-rivals Watford. 

The centre half has been a mainstay in the starting line-up since his arrival from Cardiff City in the summer, for what is understood to be a club record transfer fee.

But a mistake in his first home game against QPR, coupled with the low confidence and poor results of the team in general, had not made for the best of starts. 

But McGuinness led from the back against Watford and despite finishing the game as Town’s only recognised centre half after the withdrawals of Tom Holmes and Reece Burke, guided their makeshift replacements – Alfie Doughty and Daiki Hashioka – to a display that took the sting out of the Hornets.

Edwards is hopeful that he’ll have some restored defensive options for tonight’s visit of Championship leaders Sunderland, but McGuinness is expected to be fit and the manager is hoping the Republic of Ireland international can continue where he left off on derby day. 

“I just think it was a great game for him, because I think the supporters saw Mark McGuinness at his best, in that level of game and the game that’s most important for everybody,” said Edwards. 

“I think it’s great for him, the connection for the fans and everything as well.

“It’s always a challenge when you come to any new club. A different way of doing things, different way of playing, new players, and it can be it can be a challenge. 

“I just think for everybody, what we did in this (Watford) game was we’ve gone back to basics. It was clarity. It was (saying), right, ‘this is what our non-negotiable are. This is us. These are our fundamentals. Whatever you want to term it, however you how you do it, and then off you go, because you’re all really good players. But let’s start with that.’ 

“And what we’ve done now is given ourselves a sort of a base level. And I think that helped Mark and all of the boys.”

Before the Watford game, Edwards revealed that McGuinness had not trained with Town since being sent back from international duty with an injury. 

But the defender showed his true colours, with the manager saying: “I thought Mark was brilliant and I didn’t say after the game, I thanked him personally, like out on the pitch and for what he’d done throughout the the last week to ten days, because he hadn’t trained. 

“The work that he put in to be fit for that game, it would have been easy for him to go, ‘do you know what? I need a bit more time’. But he worked round the clock along with the medical staff as well, to be fit for that game, like Burkey (Reece Burke) did. 

“Unfortunately, Burkey had to come off. But for Macca, that tackle he made later on in the second half, not the one in the first half, the one in the second half on the edge of the box. His ankle that was sore and everything as well.”