Gary Brabin says Luton will not look at tomorrow’s relegation six-pointer at Charlton Athletic as a one-off game that they must win.
Town travel to The Valley on the back of two successive clean sheet victories, which has slashed the gap to safety to four points, with the Addicks just two points above that.
So, victory in London would bring the hosts further into the relegation scrap while significantly raising the Hatters’ hopes of a great escape.
Assistant manager Brabin said: “We want to claw a few (teams) back if we can but we’re not looking at this as a one-off game. We know what we’ve got to do from now until the end of the season and that’s win as many games as possible.
“That’s our next game and we want to win it but we’re not looking at it like it’s the be all and end all because it’s a club that’s also in a similar position.
“We won’t be putting the banners out if we win and we won’t be down in the dumps if we don’t. The main aim is getting as many wins under our belt between now and the end of the season.
“The lads are under no illusions, they know how tough it is, but they’re all fighters and every game they roll their sleeves up and give their all. I think they do genuinely believe that if they keep giving their all and maxing out in every game that we’ve got a chance of winning games.”
Asked if victories over Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough had raised morale in the squad, Brabin said: “We’re always confident. They’re a good group of lads who always give their all, and it’s obviously disappointing when you’re losing games, but we quickly pick ourselves up and go again.
“It’s great that we’re on the back of three wins in five. The mood’s still the same but it does help when you’ve got those wins behind you.”
There will be around 2,000 Hatters travelling to The Valley tomorrow and first team coach, Inigo Idiakez, said: “That’s what we need and it’s so important for us. They boys definitely feel that they’re behind us and for the football club it’s important to be in the Championship.
“We’re going to try our best to do the same as the other day (against Middlesbrough). Definitely, the message is, be behind us and we’ll give everything.”
Harry Cornick, who missed the Middlesbrough win with hamstring and back problems, will be assessed before the game, though he did train today. But left back Dan Potts will be back in contention after leaving the field at Middlesbrough with a head injury.
Brabin said: “I don’t think it was severe. He carried on after that. He played three games in a week as well, so I think it was a combination of things. We’re hopeful and we don’t see any issues with that for tomorrow.”
Centre half Matty Pearson was deployed, to great effect, as a right back at Boro and asked if that’s a position he could fill until the end of the season, Brabin said: “It gives us another string to our bow but I’m sure if you ask Matty, he’ll want to play back in the middle again. It was something that we decided would be best suited for that particular game.
“It’s something that we know we’ve got in our artillery if we need it again.”
