Rob Edwards hailed “brilliant” Harry Cornick after the forward scored one and set up strike partner Elijah Adebayo as Luton beat Wigan for the second time in a week.
On Tuesday it was a last-gasp FA Cup third-round replay victory at the DW Stadium but this victory in the Championship moved Town to one place outside the play-offs on goal difference, with a game in hand of three of the contenders.
Cornick put the Hatters ahead on 11 minutes when he robbed new signing Steven Caulker on his debut before punishing the former Premier League centre half with the finish.
Talking of Cornick’s contribution, Luton boss Edwards said: “(I’m) delighted for him. He’s been brilliant. And a really good assist for the second goal. His performance was top today.”
After Cornick’s first league goal of the season he was instrumental in his side’s second soon after the interval.
He played a perfect one-two with Adebayo that teed up last term’s top scorer for his second strike at the DW Stadium in a week after Tuesday’s 98th-minute cup winner, which Cornick also assisted.
Edwards said: “(It was a) great counter-attack. The speed of attack. We were talking about speeding the game up. It’s hard to defend against that.
“It was the perfect weight of pass into his path. He just knew, because the pass was right from Corns it made the finish so much easier. He finished it really well, Eli.”
The striker pair made the most of calf injuries to top marksman Carlton Morris and Cauley Woodrow, who scored in Tuesday’s FA Cup victory.
“What I’m really pleased with is without those two, really important players for us, the forwards stepped up today and delivered,” said Edwards.
“They’re all in form and scoring goals at the moment, which is exactly what you want.”
Victory marked an instant response to last term’s disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion. Having been 2-0 up.
Edwards said: “It’s a really good response after losing last week go, after being 2-0 up. It did hurt us. So it’s been a really good response.”
And it also capped off a marathon run of three games against Wigan in the last fortnight, asked if he had to do anything differently this time around, Edwards told the BBC: “Not so much today. We tried to do a few different things on Tuesday and I think it worked and gave us some good control. But, today, with the conditions, the pitch was slower than it was on Tuesday.
“It was a little bit slicker on Tuesday and we could move the ball better and quicker. Today was harder.
“We knew they’d make changes, players would come in and with the physical threat they’ve got up front, it made the game a bit stop-start.
“A lot of duals, a lot of direct play, bouncing balls and I don’t think it was ever going to be the prettiest game to watch. We had to compete well.
“It was really strange, I’ve certainly never done it as a coach or a manager, played against a team three times out of four. Strange.”
