Berry insists Hatters can use home comforts to help them beat Cherries

Luke Berry celebrates his goal against Harrogate with fellow substitute Fred Onyedinma

Midfielder Luke Berry is fully confident that Luton can upset table-toppers Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The Hatters go up against their lofty opponents in an early 12.30pm kick-off with the match shown live on Sky Sports.

Scott Parker’s Cherries side looked odds-on for a return to the Premier League this term, and remain at the summit despite a sticky spell before Christmas that saw them not win for six matches, registering just three points from a possible 18.

However they ended that with a fine 1-0 victory at QPR on December 27, and are now on a run of three triumphs in row, having defeated Cardiff and knocked Yeovil out of the FA Cup last weekend.

The Cherries have also played four times to Luton’s once during the truncated festive period, but despite that, Berry is confident, saying: “I think Fulham were top of the league last time we played them and now Bournemouth, so two top of the leagues on the trot.

“Hopefully we can give them a good game, get the crowd going and like we did last season, we drew against them 0-0, but I thought we should have won the game.

“So if we can do the same again, I think we’ll do well.

“Anyone here, I always walk from the car park to the changing rooms and feel we can win.

“There’s no way anyone in this league will feel like we can fear them, so I think we can do that again on Saturday.

“There's nothing better than playing here, I love playing here with the atmosphere and hopefully it will be the same against Bournemouth, a real hostile atmosphere."

With the Cherries match the start of five fixtures in 16 days, assistant boss Mick Harford is enthusiastic about the rest of the season, adding: “We all know the challenge in the Championship.

“The performances have been excellent in most of the games.

“We probably haven’t been rewarded by the points tally, which probably should be a little bit more.

“Overall, we’re really pleased where we are. We’re going into a tough period of the season now where we’re playing catch-up but that’s like most teams.

“Covid will play it’s part, but it’s a challenge that Nathan and the team will be looking forward to.”