Rather than shop in the same supermarket as Luton’s Premier League rivals, Rob Edwards says quite likes the challenge of tackling a transfer window the Luton way.
Town have cash to spend this month, but the manager can’t and won’t go overboard on changing his squad as he bids to mastermind a top-flight survival bid.
The Hatters can give that aim a big shot in the arm if they beat relegation rivals Burnley at Turf Moor tomorrow night.
Then they’ll only have one more Premier League game this month, at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, so that will leave plenty of time to plot and plan in the January sales.
But though Luton spent club record amounts in the summer after reaching the Premier League for the first time ever, it was still only around £20million that they forked out which, compared to most of their peers is peanuts.
“Maybe one day we’ll be in that position,” Edwards said of competing with the chequebooks of their rivals.
“I think we’ve got to look at where we’ve come from and what we can do now. We’re doing pretty well. We can compete but we’ve got to do it in our way.
“I don’t see us as paupers, we just do it in our way. If, and it’s a big if, if we can stay at this level and be competing for a longer period of time, we’ll be in better positions to keep growing and building.
“This is our first year in the Premier League. We’ll never be able to go out and match other Premier League teams but that doesn’t mean we can’t sign good players.
“We’ve got good players in the building as well. So, I don’t see it that way. I quite like the challenge of it.”
There is money to spend this month but Edwards has been quick to downplay expectations of numerous transfers.
He said: “There’s a plan here, we’ll stick to that. We’ll be backed if we think there’s someone that can really help us.
“But when I say we’ll be backed, there’s levels that. That’s fine, that’s just what we do.
“But if you look at the performance levels of a lot of our lads this season, there’s probably a lot of value in the building with this group of players. So, we’re doing all right on that side of things.”
Town have been repeatedly linked with Ecuadorian midfielder Oscar Zambrano, thought Edwards has consistently denied any bids have been tabled.
On the task to tempting players to Kenilworth Road, he said: “It’s difficult, especially in January when there’s a real premium. A Premier League club, there’s always a premium on players that you buy in January.
“We understand that. I think our supporters understand that as well, because they’ve been used to the way we operate for a long, long time now and it’s gone pretty well so far.”
