Rob Edwards apologised to the travelling Town fans as his Luton side crashed out of the FA Cup to League Two Grimsby in a heavy fourth-round replay defeat.
Any hope of facing beleaguered former boss Nathan Jones at Southampton in the next stage and banking around £300,000 were dashed within a disastrous first half at Blundell Park.
Harry Clifton and Danilo Orsi put the Mariners two up before Ben Amos blasted a free-kick in off the upright from a tight angle just before the break.
Things are looking very positive in the Hatters’ Championship endeavours this term, where they sit 60 places above their hosts, so this can only down as a cup upset and manager Edwards said: “Credit to Grimsby, it’s a disappointing night for us and what I’ve got to say to the 466 fans that travelled tonight, I apologise to them. They will be very disappointed, but they were great with us at the end.
“They’re great with us because of what the lads have done for them over a long period of time now, we have an honest group here, no one makes mistakes on purpose and everyone gives everything, they know that.
“Tonight wasn’t our night and so I hope they travel home safely and we owe them a performance on Saturday.”
There was little sign of mass discontent from the Luton supporters and Edwards said: “They know what this group is about and they’ve given them some fantastic moments over quite a long period of time now. We’re coming off the back of three wins in a row in the league and three clean sheets.
“There is a feel-good factor around the club but tonight it wasn’t us in certain moments.
“The fans were brilliant and we owe them something on Saturday now. I know we’ll get a reaction.”
Edwards took the opportunity after a busy schedule to shuffle his pack, with Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Jordan Clark, Carlton Morris, Reece Burke and Alfie Doughty all starting on the bench and Louis Watson, Elliot Thorpe, Luke Berry and Cauley Woodrow, Gabriel Osho and Fred Onyedinma all starting.
Asked by the BBC if the result highlight a lack of squad depth, the manager said: “No, I believe in the players and the group that we’ve got. It can be difficult at times. I felt it was the right time to make a few changes.
“We’ve had three really tough games. We’ve had this game, which we knew was going to be a difficult game. We’ve got three really difficult games coming up in a seven-day period.
“I can’t keep saying to our lads, ‘we’re going to need you all and how much I value you all’, and then not give anyone an opportunity.
“The team that went out, I know, was more than capable of winning that game. In periods in the game, you could see it. It was just those moments that we didn’t deal with it well enough.
“I think we’ve got a strong group but, unfortunately, tonight, we came up short.”
Asked about the mood of the players after missing the chance to progress in the cup, Edwards said: “They’re disappointed. They’re angry, they’re frustrated. They wanted to be in the hat for the next round. The FA Cup is a brilliant competition, we knew what the prize is at stake, going to a Premier League team.
“Tonight, let’s be honest, we didn’t deserve to win. We didn’t deserve to win in key moments. They were better than us in key moments, the throw-ins, the free-kick and them we weren’t able to score ourselves, hit the target ourselves or be ruthless in key moments when we had chances.”
