Cauley Woodrow says Luton must make Kenilworth Road a “fortress” in the Premier League and insists West Ham United will find it tough despite their high-flying start.
There’s excitement about Town’s first-ever home game in the division tomorrow night, as they aim to claim their first points of the season after two defeats at Brighton and Chelsea.
Those clubs have just been toppled by a Hammers side that is unbeaten in their first three and so the task to establish themselves in the big time doesn’t get any easier for the Hatters in what will be a televised clash of second place versus second from bottom.
Woodrow said: “We were fully aware, when we got promoted that it wasn’t going to be easy. As footballers, and members of staff, you want to challenge yourself at the highest possible level.
“When we got promoted, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, so we’ve just got to embrace it and not worry about the teams we’re coming up against.
“We know they’re going to be good teams with good players, and have spent however much money on players, but we’ve just literally got to focus on ourselves and block out all the outside stuff.
“It’s just 11 players against 11 players on a football pitch and I think on Friday night at the Kenny, it’s going to be a tough place for a lot of teams to come.
“If West Ham are top, that’s fine, but it’s going to be tough game for them.”
It will be the first time in 31 years that Kenilworth Road has hosted top-flight football and after chastening away scorelines, though not performances, Luton need to make the most of their traditional old ground.
“We need to make this our fortress this season,” said the striker after his account for the season in Tuesday’s 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Gillingham.
Town fans made Kenilworth Road into a cauldron of hostility last term, most notably against arch-rivals and then Sunderland in the Championship play-off semi-final decider.
Asked if the visit of West Ham requires even more ferocity from fans, Woodrow said: “A million per cent. It’s a really hard place to come as an away player. Watford last season, it was mental really. You thought you were abroad at some point when you see those games abroad.
“The fans are unbelievable always when we play at home. They’ve really got to get behind the lads as they always do.”
He added: “The first league game at home against West Ham, Friday night football, it doesn’t really get much better to be honest.
“We’re really looking forward and hopefully we put on a good performance and hopefully it will be our first three points of the season.”
Woodrow also insisted Town can’t get sidetracked by the increased media focus on the game.
“It’s cool but it’s just another game of football for us,” he said, adding: “We’ve got to win games this season to stay in this league and that’s what we want to do.
“We have to block out all the outside stuff, I know it’s hard because there’s a lot more media side of things in the Prem. We’ve got to block that out and just focus on the football, really.
“That’s all we can do. The rest is really irrelevant. We’ve got to focus on ourselves, train hard, play hard and hopefully our reward will be at the end of the season.
