Hatters boss doesn't believe his Luton side are in need of a miracle just yet

Luton boss Rob Edwards doesn’t think his Hatters side are in need of a miracle to preserve their Premier League status just yet.

Town head to West Ham United this afternoon in what they hope is the first of their two last chance saloons, knowing a defeat to the Hammers would realistically see them playing Championship football again next season. Fourth bottom Nottingham Forest are three points above Edwards’ side and don’t play until 5.30pm when they host Chelsea, but Luton’s goal difference of minus 11 would have already been extended with a loss, making it virtually impossible to stay up.

Any kind of result for Town could take the battle into the final game of the campaign against Fulham, as long as Forest don’t match the outcome when they go up against the Blues at the City Ground, something Luton have been masters of during their history, with thrilling last-gasp escapes against Manchester City and Derby County to name just two.

Discussing the situation, a bullish Edwards, speaking yesterday, said: “I don’t think it’s a miracle at all. I think we've been in worse situations as a football club and got out of it, but we know what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to pick up points and it’s got to start tomorrow. There’s loads of different dynamics and that doesn’t matter if we don’t get something, that’s the right answer. We’ll go and give it absolutely everything, it’s always time to leave it all out there, but it’s now or never.”

Second bottom Burnley are still not out of it either, as they travel to Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon in need of a victory to give themselves any chance at all in their final match, which is at home to Forest. On whether he felt Luton had the more favourable fixtures to try and finish above the dotted line, Edwards continued: “Every game is difficult and I can’t compare what the other teams have got.

“We’ve got to concentrate on us, whatever will be, will be elsewhere and over the 36 games so far this season look at the wins we’ve got. It’s difficult to win games, so I’m certainly not going to look at our remaining two fixtures and think they’re easier than anyone else’s, they’re certainly not. We’ll go into it with the utmost of respect for the opposition and give it absolutely everything.”

Following Brighton & Hove Albion’s trip to Kenilworth Road back in January where Town swept their opponents aside 4-0, following that up with 4-4 draw at Newcastle United, hopes were high that Luton had found a formula to push themselves out of the conversation as to who goes down this term, but then injuries struck and struck badly.

It has seen Town on a run of just one win in 14 games, taking six points from a possible 45, but in the face of such adversity, Edwards has remained exceedingly positive, something that was praised by winger Andros Townsend when speaking on the BBC Monday Night Club programme this week. Relegation is something the Town manager clearly hasn’t allowed to enter his thought process at the moment, as he wants next weekend against the Cottagers to still have something tangible on it, saying: “I don’t want to think about the other side, the negative side at the moment.

"I know that’s a reality, I understand it, I get it, but all I want to think about is trying to win a game of football and us to be talking next week about a really exciting climax to the season. It’s been unbelievable, brilliant memories and whatever happens we’re going to look back really fondly on it. Hopefully we’re looking back on it fondly and still in it, that’s the plan, that’s the aim.”

Luton will head to a West Ham side they faced when their top flight season was still very much in its infancy back in September, losing 2-1 at Kenilworth Road, in what was their first home game back in the big time for over 30 years. Town are a different animal since that contest though, as they have abandoned the low block they began the campaign with in favour of a far more attacking style which has put themselves in the position where they still have a fighting chance of staying up.

Looking back at that fixture, Edwards said: “We’ve probably changed a bit more than they have, maybe they didn’t need to as much. We were still going through a bit of a process of learning a lot more, it was very early in the season for us and after two difficult away games, for us it was more a decision to maybe block things up more, be a little bit more difficult to beat and break down that night.

"It was a tight game, we had some chances, conceded a set-piece, there wasn’t loads in the game at all, but we know that if we get our bits right then we can cause them problems. Equally we’ve got to be always concentrating, even when we’re in possession of the ball because they can counter as quick as anyone.

"They can change a game and turn a game on its hand with the quality of the individuals that they’ve got, the speed, the power that they possess as well. They’ve got lots of weapons, the game will probably be a bit more open now because of how we play. We’ve got to know what we’re giving away as that can favour them at times, but it will be a different game to last time, that’s because of the change that we’ve gone through.”

Although Town aren’t starting the day closer to Forest then they would have wanted, only gleaning a point from their 1-1 draw with Everton last Friday night, it was still a display that allowed Edwards to take plenty of optimism from heading to the London Stadium this afternoon. He added: “It does, we were able to have some positive meetings with the players, show them some good stuff and that certainly helps with confidence and belief going into such a big, big game.

"It was a really good Premier League performance against Everton who are a good team, who have had a challenging season and probably had a little bit less pressure on them and performed well. I thought we were excellent and in the end unlucky not to get the three points that we really, really wanted, but we took something from the game and we can build on that.”