Friendships are cast aside by Pelly for Boro clash

The hosts have the likes of Ronnie Henry, Fraser Franks and Luke Wilkinson in their line-up, who have all been team-mates of Mpanzu during his time at Kenilworth Road.

However, Mpanzu won’t be looking to do them any favours once he crosses the white line as he said: “It’s a bit of a local derby just down the road so hopefully we can come away with three points.

“They’ve (former Hatters) gone on to Stevenage, I wish them the best, but when it comes to it, we’re at Luton and they’re at Stevenage, so we’ve got to put friendships aside and do the business for our respective clubs.

With over 1,500 Hatters supporters making the short trip for the clash, team-mate Cameron McGeehan is relishing the challenge of a local derby, adding: “There was a great atmosphere last year when we played there. It was a derby-type match so we have to be right up for it physically.

“It will be a different type of game. It will be physical, it will be maybe a bit more long ball from them and they’ve got a few old (Luton) players that want to prove a point against us.

“We’ll have to match that, play with tenacity and try to out-muscle them.

“When you go to places like that, draws aren’t the worst results. Obviously we’re looking to win the game, but we’re top of the league and they’ll be looking to nullify our threats.”