Edwards hails Adebayo's return as a real positive for the Hatters at Molineux

Luton boss Rob Edwards pointed to the return of striker Elijah Adebayo as a real plus from his side’s disappointing 2-1 Premier League defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

The nine-goal forward hadn’t been involved since he pulled out of the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United before kick-off just over two months ago on February 18, missing the last 11 fixtures with a hamstring injury. Adebayo’s absence has been keenly felt too, as the attack had been in red-hot form until sidelined, netting seven goals in his last nine top flight matches, including a hat-trick against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Fit enough to be named on the bench this time though, the 26-year-old was introduced with 15 minutes to go and Luton trailing 2-0, looking like they had little chance of avoiding yet another blow to their chances of staying up. Unlike the previous time he had come back to try and rescue the Hatters in the final stages of a season, the 1-0 play-off semi-final second leg defeat at Huddersfield in 2022 when he could barely move, this time Adebayo looked on it, getting involved straight away, trying to twist and turn his markers with his usual languid style, almost creating a chance for himself, ultimately winning a corner.

The set-piece led to Town giving themselves a lifeline, Alfie Doughty getting a second chance to deliver once fellow replacement Cauley Woodrow’s volley came straight back to him, picking out Reece Burke to nod back for Morris to score his 10th of the season. On the efforts of Adebayo, who will now be hoping to get a longer run-out, if not start, the must-win clash with Everton at Kenilworth Road on Friday night, Edwards said: “It’s good for us as well to have Eli back, he made a positive impact in the game, that’s almost part of his training, getting him up to speed now.

"When he came on he showed some real drive for us. Cauley I thought made a big impact as well, so the subs were good for us, they give us some good decisions going into the next game. It’s a real positive for us, we’ve got a lot of players who are hanging on at the moment. That back three, we’re asking a lot of as well. They’re playing through some pain, all three of them at the moment. Gabe’s (Osho) feeling quite a few things, we’ll see how he is, we’ll have to patch him up I think. Losing Issa Kabore as well certainly doesn't help, so to have Eli back that was one silver lining at the end.”

Town defender Teden Mengi was also pleased to see his team-mate back in action, adding: “It’s good to have Eli back, he’s a different sort of problem, a great option for us and a goalscoring threat.”