Rob Edwards believes that football should give his Luton players more credit for their continued achievements and he labelled them “special” after they booked a Wembley play-off final in a dramatic Kenilworth Road night.
Goals from Gabriel Osho and Tom Lockyer overturned Sunderland’s Championship semi-final first-leg 2-1 lead by half time and they never looked likely to relinquish the advantage.
Theirs was a performance that emphasised how Luton comfortably and deservedly finished the regular season in third, 11 points ahead of the Black Cats.
And when it mattered most, they made their dominant season count on one of the noisiest nights witnessed at their 118-year-old stadium with a performance and the occasion that overwhelmed the visitors.
Yet outside of Luton’s fanbase, there’s been some bewilderment as to how a team with one of the lowest budgets in the Championship and many players plucked from lower divisions can now be on the precipice of the Premier League.
Edwards said: “This group of players is special and look where they finished, they finished third in the league, they’ve been in the top six over the last two seasons now, they’re good players, and people need to give them credit.
“They fight so hard for each other, there’s such a spirit there, and we know what we’re going to come up against, two very good teams.
“Whoever it is (in the final), (is a) real talent, so it will be really hard again, but we’ve shown in the big games we can turn up.
“You get to a play-off final, you want to win, you want to go up. We’re one game away from the Premier League, it sounds special, and it sounds surreal saying it, but we are, it’s a fact and I’m really, really happy.”
Yet, Town have been on an unparalleled period of progression in the EFL where they’ve come from the non-league in 2014 to the Championship and have finished in a higher position in every one of the last seven seasons.
Last year, they missed out in the second-tier semi-finals and, until last night, had never won an EFL play-off tie in their history.
So, this victory was a huge hoodoo-busting effort, but one that Edwards felt confident was on the cards.
“We believed from day one that we can achieve something, now we’ve got one more game to go to try and do it, so we’re not getting carried away here,” the Hatters manager said.
“I’m really proud, it was a great night, I want everyone to enjoy it, enjoy the moment and celebrate winning a semi-final.
“We’re going to go and have a day at Wembley which will be special, but we’ve always believed.”
Edwards will lead Luton out at the national stadium on May 27 and he said: “We look forward to it. We’re in this game for big moments and big games, that’s what we’re here for, we’ve enjoyed this occasion tonight. Hopefully, I’ll be able to reflect when driving home and look back and think that was really special, but we’ve been able to bring a lot of pleasure to our supporters and to see the lads’ faces at the end, that makes me happy, but then we want to go further.”