Edwards felt Luton's 'innocence' when going down to 10 men cost them a point at Boro

Luton boss Rob Edwards felt his side paid the price for what he believed was an ‘innocence’ in trying to collect all three points at Middlesbrough on Saturday despite being down to 10 men.

The Hatters were level at 1-1 with their hosts at the Riverside Stadium when defender Amari’i Bell was shown red for his second booking after fouling Isaiah Jones yet again, a dismissal that had been on the cards for the majority of the second period.

With 17 minutes still remaining and a numerical advantage, Boro then gained the ascendancy, going close through Duncan Watmore’s low drive, as Jonny Howson fired over, and then when Matt Crooks missed a golden opportunity in the closing stages, missing the target from eight yards, it looked like Town would escape with a point.

However, they were hit in the first minute of stoppage time when following a free kick, the ball was played back into the box and rebounded for an unmarked Crooks to make amends, volleying past Ethan Horvath from close range.

Speaking afterwards, Edwards said: “That moment (Crooks miss), you think, okay, we’ve done enough.

“There’s little bits we’ve got to work on, we’ve got to be a little bit cuter, manage the game better.

“We had a free kick, gave the ball away and it ends up with the free kick down here which they scored from.

“We’ve got to learn from them and be better.

“There’s an innocence about us where we’re maybe looking to try and score and open the game up a little bit when we’re down to 10 men.

“I think at that moment, the last minute or two, its just be sensible here, try and take the point and close it down and we didn’t do that.”

Before the sending off, Luton had their chances, Tom Lockyer volleying wide from close range, before Allan Campbell charged down keeper Zack Steffen’s clearance, the ball rebounding into the side-netting.

Edwards had made change to try and seize the initiative, sending on Harry Cornick and Luke Freeman, but the red card put paid to any real hopes of victory, the boss added: “There was moments, we had moments, but we want more, we want to keep striving for more.

"Allan, his work-rate is incredible and we thought we’d just try to freshen things up with Corns and with Frees.

"I thought that might help us with lads getting a bit tired, try and retain the ball a bit better and give us a threat in behind with Corns running.

"Not long after that we’re adjusting again when we’re down to 10 men, so difficult moments in that second half.”