Adebayo confident his battle with team-mate Morris to be Luton top scorer will only boost the Hatters

Luton striker Elijah Adebayo believes his efforts to chase down Carlton Morris in the quest to be the Hatters’ top scorer this season is only going to be a good thing for the club during the second half of the campaign.

The 25-year-old had a tough start to life this term, as following a brilliant maiden Championship season, scoring 17 times in all competitions, he managed just three goals in his opening 24 appearances.

Adebayo then netted a thumping header against West Bromwich Albion last month, going on to score in five consecutive matches, only the 26th player in Town’s history to do so.

His run was eventually ended in the 1-0 victory over Stoke City at the weekend, also denied a ninth of the campaign by a wonderful save from Grimsby keeper Max Crocombe as Town were dumped out of the FA Cup by the League Two side on Tuesday night.

The return to form means Adebayo now trails his strike partner by just three goals, and with the challenge to be leading marksman clearly becoming a two-horse race, he said: “It was earlier on in the season when I scored against Huddersfield that I said I was going to give him a good run for his money.

"I’m not going to say too much, I’m going to keep working hard, he’s going to keep working hard, Cauley’s (Woodrow) going to keep working hard and the competition is going to be there.

"I think that makes not just the three of us better players, but the whole squad, it makes it competition all over the pitch.”

With the Town forwards doing their bit for the side in terms of pressing the opposition defence, Adebayo knows it is something to help make any contest that bit more difficult for any opposition they come up against, adding: “The defending starts from the front, so we want to make teams feel as uncomfortable as possible.

"Then if they break that press we know we’ve got midfielders and defenders who are going to be backing us up.

"That’s the way Luton teams are built on.

"We’re built on hard-working from the front to the back and making other teams as uncomfortable as possible.”