Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu doesn’t just have his eyes on an FA Cup upset against Chelsea, but he’s viewing tomorrow’s fourth round clash as the chance to size them up as regular rivals in the Premier League.
The notion might seem fanciful to some but, more than any other player, the midfielder is woven into the fabric of an eight-year success story Luton Town and one he believes still has more chapters left to write.
When Mpanzu left West Ham United’s Academy for the Hatters in November 2013 to debut in an FA Trophy stalemate against Staines Town, few would have pegged him as a player that would go on to break Hatters records.
But six months later he’d helped heave the club back to the Football League after five years in the non-league wilderness – and that would be the first of three promotions with the club up to the Championship. No other Hatter has done that.
And, as well as being the only Hatter to have scored in four different divisions, he’s the current squad’s longest serving player with 273 appearances. So, while he’s keen to play at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, he wants it to be a preview to playing in the Premier League.
“It’s a day to enjoy but we’ve got to make sure we do the best we can. We want to be playing teams like Chelsea every week,” he said.
“As the season goes on, maybe we can make it into the play-offs. You never know what can happen, but it will be a great day.”
Luton’s first priority is to establish themselves in the Championship, and they are on their way to achieving that as they are closer to the top six than they are the bottom, where they spent the entirety of the second half of last term, until their final day Great Escape.
But the end goal is to return to the top flight, having been a founding member of the Premier League but never playing in it after getting relegated in 1992, two years before Mpanzu was even born
“That’s the aim of the club,” said the 26-year-old, adding: “The manager (Nathan Jones), when he came in, he said he wanted to get us to be an established Championship team. I think we’ve done that and we can keep pushing on.”
Though Town haven’t faced Chelsea since their defeat in the 1994 FA Cup semi-final, they’re no strangers to causing shocks against top-flight opposition in the world’s oldest competition.
They knocked out West Ham and Newcastle in that run to the old twin towers of Wembley and, though Mpanzu wasn’t in the squad in 2014, they became the first ever non-league side to knock a Premier League side (Norwich City) out of the cup.
On the prospects of turning over Chelsea, the midfielder said: “It’s going to be a great day, but hopefully we can cause an upset. It’s the FA Cup and anything can happen, so hopefully it goes well for us.”
One hope is that the Hatters can capitalise on a poor run of form for the Blues, with eight points from their last eight league games, entering boss Frank Lampard in the sack race.
“Obviously, Chelsea aren’t in the greatest of form and hopefully we can go an attack them,” said Mpanzu.
“If we sit back and allow them, they’ll grow into the game and they’ve got great players that might punish us.
“Obviously, we’ve got to do a job and hopefully we can come out with a result.
“Everyone knows what Chelsea’s about. They’ve won titles, they’re a great team, they’ve got international stars. Everyone’s still calm, but it’s not a game that’s too big for us.
“We can more than manage Chelsea, but it’s about doing it on the day and hopefully we can get a result.”
