Luton made it 14 games unbeaten with a stalemate at home against Hull to see out the regular season, but all the excitement happened elsewhere in the Championship as the Hatters finally learned they’d face Sunderland in the play-offs.
Boss Rob Edwards made eight changes, wrapping up in cotton wool his big stars ahead of that two-legged affair which will begin at the Stadium on Light on Saturday.
But throughout the course of the afternoon, it could have been one of four teams that snuck into the sixth spot and a clash against Luton.
West Bromwich Albion, Coventry and Millwall all swapped places as goals flew in around the division, but none more so that at The Den where the Lions were 3-1 up but lost 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers, which opened up the door for Sunderland with their 3-0 win against Preston.
“It changed that many times, did it? Sounds like it was quite exciting out there. I bet all of you (media) wish you were out there, rather than here today. Sorry about that, ” said Town boss Edwards, who admitted he wasn’t aware of the scores during the game.
Looking ahead to facing Sunderland, the manager said: “(It’s) another difficult game. I think whoever it was going to be we know it’s going to be difficult.
“Big, big stadium, big football club and Tony’s (Mowbray) done really well there. Lots of good individual players and we experienced that not so long ago up there.”
The two clubs played out a 1-1 draw in the north-east in March, following the same score earlier in the campaign at Kenilworth Road.
The draw at Sunderland came in controversial circumstances as Amad Diallo dived to win a late penalty that cancelled out Alfie Doughty’ opener.
As if that recent clash can help in his preparations for the play-offs, Edwards said: “I think so. We’ll have both taken a look at each other then. So, we’ll definitely be able to look back at that game, as well as some of their more recent ones.
“They’re good going forward. They’re risk-free and go for it and look to attack. We’ll have to make sure that we defend really well and do the basics well.
“We’ll have to take the most of any chances that we can. We want to make sure that we’re well in the tie coming back here on Tuesday night.”
Having rested all but Doughty, Jordan Clark and Sonny Bradley from the side that drew at Blackburn last week, there was little in the way of excitement against Hull.
Joe Taylor on his full debut came closest to a goal but his header was denied by a point-blank Matt Ingram save, while substitute Luke Berry came very close with an audacious 50-yard lob.
At the other end James Shea back in the Luton goal for the first time since a horrific knee injury at Cardiff a year ago made one save to ensure Town finished the regular season with 20 clean sheets.
The game also saw Edwards give Reece Burke and Gabriel Osho half a game each, to boost Luton’s defensive ranks ahead of the play-offs, but the manager said: “Today was about resting key players, let’s be honest. It was about making sure that we didn’t risk anyone necessarily. And it was about giving some players some game time because, over the next couple of games, if they’re needed, we want people up to speed. I think it was two-fold and, overall, it was a successful day.”
But asked if his selection for the dead-rubber means he’s close to understanding what side he’ll field at Sunderland, Edwards said: “I think we’re pretty close to knowing whereabouts we need to be. There might be one or two positions depending on the opposition and who we’re going to face. There’s one or two that might suit away to Sunderland, more so than Millwall for instance.
“Now we know who we’ve got we can really plan and prepare and we’ll get that team right.”
