Brown thought Town's derby day heroes resembled Luton's Championship promotion winners

​Town forward Jacob Brown stated how the Hatters players had been determined to make themselves ‘heroes’ going into their derby day clash against Watford on Saturday, as he felt his team gave off an aura similar to the one that won promotion to the Premier League during their last campaign at this level.

When Luton were winning the Championship play-offs back in the 2022-23 campaign, Brown was then at Stoke City, part of a Potters side who beat the Hatters 2-0 in what was Nathan Jones’ last game in charge, before Town got their own back at Kenilworth Road, 1-0 winners courtesy of a Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu strike, on their way to the top flight via a play-off final penalty shoot-out triumph over Coventry City at Wembley.

Luton’s attempts to return to the highest tier of English football had been floundering during the early stages of the campaign, managing just two victories from their opening nine games, and beaten 2-0 at Sheffield United before the break, serving up their worst outing to date. However, that all changed at the weekend, when they were back to their very best, producing a barnstorming display to comprehensively defeat their main rivals and hopefully lay the blueprint for the rest of the season.

It was what they had targeted to do in the build-up as Brown, who was named among the substitutes having only just returned from a lengthy knee injury, said: “When I was sat on the bench watching it, it looked like Luton that I played against the season they got promoted. We knew how big the game was, we knew the performance we needed to put in and we did exactly that, it was everything we wanted and more.

"We spoke about it before the game, it’s time for heroes to be made and I know it’s just one game, but that was a massive game for us so we’re really going to enjoy that moment. The Sheffield United game wasn’t a good performance from us. Looking back at the game we were too passive and we were the complete opposite today.

"We know how big the game was and there was that extra motivation, but we know that we can perform like that. We had to win fifty-fifty’s, we had to win as many duels as we could and then that gives you more control of the game. Winning the ball higher up the pitch meant we just put the pressure on them and the goal was coming at all time. We need to have that in every game, get ourselves up for it as much as that every week and show that when we play with that intensity, it’s hard for teams to handle us.”

Although he wasn’t on the pitch to begin with, Brown, who was experiencing his first taste of a Luton v Watford derby, could feel just how hyped up the home supporters were for the occasion from his place on the bench. It ramped up when Jordan Clark put them ahead on 11 minutes, as the decibel levels stayed at full blast from then on, Town’s supporters absolutely lapping up what they were watching.

Carlton Morris added a second moments after the break, while the noise reached fever pitch in stoppage time, as Brown, who had replaced Luton’s skipper by then, came on to add the cherry on top by finding the bottom corner to make it 3-0. On the 90 minutes, the Scottish international continued: “It was probably one of the best atmospheres I’ve been involved in in my career so far and it was just the perfect day to finish it off with a goal myself.

"I literally got goosebumps in the first few minutes when we were putting the pressure on and everyone was winning the corners. The way the fans were, it was electric and you could just tell from that first minute, we were at it, the fans were up for it and they just couldn’t handle us. The atmosphere was amazing and I know for the Watford players it was a little bit difficult to play in that, so that’s just where we’re at now, we need to build on that and keep pushing.

"It was perfect for the fans, for us as a team, it was just what we needed at this point in the season. We’d been looking forward to it all week and it was the perfect day. The game had come at a good time for us too as it’s not been a great start, but it’s a long season, it’s a marathon not a sprint. There’s so many games left and that’s why we're going to enjoy today but we can’t just stop there, we’ve got to keep going and push on from there.

"We know how big the game was, we know the performance we needed to put in and we did exactly that. It was everything we wanted and more, and to see the atmosphere, how it should be and how we need to play is a positive thing for us. It’s good to have that now as we know that moving forward, if we can keep playing like that, we’ll go a long way.

The win was enough to push Luton up to 18th in the table, although they are still seven points adrift of the play-offs and 11 behind leaders Sunderland, who head to Bedfordshire this evening. Despite the difficult beginning, Brown is confident they can now push on and hit their true levels, as he added: “It’s early in the season. We can’t say it’s not happened for us as the season’s not finished yet.

“We spoke about it all week, it's been a tough start to the season, we’re not going to hide from that and we know that this one game isn't going to define our season but it’s a massive chance for us to build some momentum now. We’ve shown the fans that we are a good team and hopefully they can back us again on Wednesday which I know they will and hopefully we can put in another performance like that.

“That’s the message now, we’ve shown what we can do, now we have to do it for a number of games and hopefully we can do that next game. It’s been a bad start, or not an ideal start, but there’s still so many games to go. We need to realise it is just one game but this could be the next chapter for us and we can push on. It’s exactly what we needed going into another home game. If we can bring the same atmosphere, hopefully put in another similar performance and if we can start building a run of games, you see how quickly things can change in the Championship, so we’re ready to go again.”