Adebayo thankful to the Hatters fans for having his back following difficult time after Spurs miss

Luton striker Elijah Adebayo was thankful to Town’s fans, his team-mates, and the club itself for having his back after enduring a tough few weeks on a personal level.

The forward was back in the starting line-up for the match against Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the international break after netting a first goal of the season in the 2-1 defeat to Burnley.

Moments into the second half at Kenilworth Road, and with the scores level, Adebayo put a glaring chance wide at the far post, somehow sliding Chiedozie Ogbene’s cross behind rather than over the goal-line.

Following the game, the former Fulham youngster, who had impressively come out to speak to the press, stating he felt he had let his side down by failing to score, then received some abhorrent racist abuse on social media.

With a fortnight in which to kick his heels and reflect on both incidents, the striker was on the bench at the City Ground on Saturday, coming on with 72 minutes gone, Town trailing 1-0 to hosts Nottingham Forest.

That soon became 2-0, before a tremendous fight back saw Ogbene halve the deficit with seven minutes to go and then Adebayo cap a difficult time with a splendid leveller in stoppage time.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “The feeling is amazing.

“I’ve had a tough week or so but it’s about bouncing back and getting back to basics and making sure that the next chance I get is the chance that I take.

“I made sure that I was concentrating and took that chance and I’m delighted with the point.

“It’s a big point, they have lost two games in 19 games here, so it's a tough place to come.

"Any Premier League point is going to be vital for us and we’ve just got to keep plugging away.

"Everyone has got good characters, so straight away you know with this team, we’re going to keep fighting until the end.

“The fans have all sent me a lot of messages, I’m appreciative of that and everyone’s had my back which is fantastic to hear, from the club and other people as well.

"It’s wonderful and if I can say thank you to all the messages I got throughout last week, I really appreciate it.

"They (Luton fans) deserve that (2-2 draw) for not only having my back but the squad's too, so it’s special for me and for them as well.”

Despite receiving the abuse, and being subjected to another disgraceful online incident at the weekend as well, Adebayo was determined not to let that, or his wayward effort against Tottenham, get to him as Luton’s top flight campaign continues with a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

He added: “Football’s football isn’t it, things don’t go your way one week and it changes, it’s very, very fast and the emotion is great personally.

"Things happen, and it’s not necessarily fuel, it’s just that’s football, that’s life.

“For me it's like I said before, I never get too up and never get too down.

"We’re human, everyone makes mistakes, it’s about getting back on the training field and trying to rectify that mistake.

"Sometimes you might not have a particularly good week and you just have to get back to basics and show why.

"I’ve told myself a lot of things throughout the last week and it’s just about getting to basics and being the player that I know I can be.

“As long as the people can see that you're working hard, the goals will come, the performances will come and then days like today are really good.

“But again, I won't get too high, because there’s another game next week and I've got to go and perform as well next week."