Luton chief is so impressed by Town's fighting spirit as they claim a late Reds point

Luton boss Rob Edwards paid tribute to his side’s fighting spirit as they ended a tough week on something of a high by scoring a late, late equaliser for the second week running to gain what could be a hugely important point in their bid to stay up when drawing 1-1 with Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

The Hatters had looked like they were going to suffer a second successive defeat, having been beaten 4-3 by AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday night, when Chris Wood scored from close range in the first half to put the Reds in front. However, Luke Berry came on to net from a corner in the final minute and draw Town level with his first ever Premier League goal.

Having gone into the game with the wounds of the second half midweek capitulation fresh in their minds, the visitors with a whole week off under their belts, Luton made a good fist of it in the first period, Ross Barkley going close on three occasions. They understandably struggled to keep those levels going after the break, as their crippling injury list looked like it was catching up with them, until Berry struck.

Speaking afterwards, reflecting on the result, Edwards said: “The way the game was going, really pleased in the end. It’s been a challenging week to say the least and I think not just football, life. Everyone’s going through stuff, everyone gets knocked down, everyone gets disappointments, everyone gets things go against them and it’s about how you deal with it and how you react that’s really important.

"I think this group has shown that’s how you react. They’ve got so much character and no matter what’s thrown at us at the moment, we’ll keep going and that doesn’t mean we’re always going to get points, I know that, we’re not always going to play well, but they’ll always keep going and keep fighting, and I love them for that.”

With nine first team players missing, including Elijah Adebayo and Sambi Lokonga, Luton once more had two goalkeepers on the bench, plus three U18s players who have just a few brief minutes of top flight football between them. That was added to with Alfie Doughty going off at half time with a hamstring strain, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu also having to be replaced in the second period too, as Edwards continued: “It’s difficult for us with a full group to be competitive in this league, which we have been.

"We’ve drawn two games and lost a mad game by a single goal, that’s hard anyway, never mind with what we’re missing at the moment. I love the group of lads that are fit and available at the moment, but to have nine senior players out and two more go down today as well. It's difficult for us and there's so many people playing out of position, even if it’s just one position down or up, in a different kind of position.

“Issa (Kabore) on the left (of the back three) and Chieo playing right back really, it was hard for us to really get a rhythm and be at our best. We had lots of possession but it’s difficult to get behind Forest and create big chances. They defended well and low and slowed the game down a lot in the second half, which was their prerogative.

"I thought the game was almost petering out but again we popped up with a set-play that was important and then we wanted to try and push, the crowd are up for it, but couldn’t find another."

Luton know have a week off due to the upcoming international break, which made this result even more important, as Edwards added: “With where we would have been if we had lost the game, it would have been a blow that for us, so we can actually go into this break on a little bit of a high. The manner of the performance, and with everything that we’ve gone through this week with all the injuries, the lads have shown a lot of character.”