Buckle praise for ‘phenomenal’ Luton fans

Hatters boss Paul Buckle lauded Town’s fans after his side shocked Championship outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round yesterday afternoon, writes Mike Simmonds.

A massive 9,638 crammed into Kenilworth Road, creating a red hot atmosphere from the first whistle, with the noise levels erupting after Alex Lawless’ second half winner.

Buckle admitted the opportunity to bring those sorts of occasions back to the club on a regular basis was one of the main reasons he had joined in the first place.

He said: “It was fantastic. We had a lot of injury time to play because of the injury to JJ (O’Donnell) and we kept our nerve.

“I thought we deserved to go through. It was an exciting tie when it came out and certainly lived up to its expectation. Our fans were phenomenal against Wrexham here in the play-offs, it was electric, but I think this topped it.

“The noise levels were incredible and we just spoke about wanting more of this. This is why I’ve come to Luton, why the players have come to Luton.

“I didn’t have to come, the players didn’t have to come. We all came because of this. The fanbase, the history and it’s such a proud moment to host a massive club like Wolves.

“We know what that means to the fans. Not that long ago clubs like this were coming to Kenilworth Road on a regular basis.

“It was lovely to get the draw and fantastic to go through. We really felt we could, we worked hard and with the fans behind us like that, it was fantastic to be involved in.”

Wolves boss Stale Solbakken, who was sacked just hours after the defeat, said: “In the first half we should have been two goals up, we had the five clearest chances which we didn’t manage to take.

“When they scored with their first attack in the second half, we didn’t create as many chances as we did in the first half.

“It’s always going to be uphill as they defended their penalty area very well and second half, it was overcrowded. We didn’t manage to win the battles and get in enough good crosses.”

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, MOM poll, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our Hatters Microsite.