Clark returns as Luton make one change for Championship decider at West Brom

Luton have made one change to their side for the Championship final day decider, with midfielder Jordan Clark replacing Lamine Fanne in the starting XI.

The 31-year-old missed the 3-1 victory over Bristol City recently, but was back on the bench for last weekend’s thrilling 1-0 victory over Coventry City which has given the Hatters every chance of staying up this afternoon. Town know a win will definitely guarantee them a place in the second tier next term, while a draw would be enough if one of Derby, Preston and Hull don’t win, and they can even afford to lose, as long as Hull are beaten by Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

Having gone from virtual certainties for the drop to now one of the favourites to stay up, Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield, who has masterminded three successive triumphs and six from the last 11, wasn’t about to let his focus slip, saying: “We can’t get carried away with the situation which we haven’t done before. We’ve just got to make sure we’re prepared and ready to go again. We’ve been fighting the whole way through and we’ve got to keep that fight.

"We’ll be in trouble if we think we’ve done it all, we absolutely won’t. We’ve been chasing the performances and we have to make sure we chase that again on Saturday, not get too anxious about the situation, just make sure we approach it with calm minds and make sure we show our supporters that we’re still fighting and scrapping for survival.

"We have to be confident of course, believe in what we’re doing, but we can’t get carried away. We’ve done nothing yet. We’ve got to be really proud of what we’ve done as we’ve come from the Blackburn game where it was a really, really tough moment for us and the boys have gone and not just won games, but played really, really well and that’s the thing.”

One thing that Bloomfield is hoping for is that Luton’s improved performances in possession will continue at the Hawthorns this afternoon having known that Town’s struggles on the pitch have made it harder for them to produced the kind of free-flowing football he would ideally like to see, adding: “When you’re in the relegation zone and you’re scrapping and fighting for your lives, there’s only a certain amount of build-up play that is probably right in that moment because of confidence.

"We have to make sure we build results and a real solid base and foundation to start playing more football or however you interpret that. We’ve been asking for a variety and the lads have been doing that. We’ve got some really good footballers so we’ll analyse and assess it as we’re always looking to improve. Nothing will change, we’ll keep going along the process of keep trying to improve and get better as we’ve seen some real shoots of optimism but there’s certainly more to come.

Baggies: Josh Griffiths, Darnell Furlong, Kyle Bartley (C), Torbjorn Heggem, Callum Styles, Isaac Price, Ousmane Diakite, Alex Mowatt, Tom Fellows, Daryl Dike, Karlan Grant. Subs: Joe Wildsmith, Semi Ajayi, Jayson Molumby, Harry Whitwell, Mikey Johnston, Gray Diangana, Will Lankshear, Adam Armstrong, Devante Cole.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Christ Makosso, Mark McGuinness, Teden Mengi, Izzy Jones, Liam Walsh, Jordan Clark, Thelo Aasgaard, Amari’i Bell, Milli Alli, Carlton Morris (C). Subs: Tim Krul, Marvelous Nakamba, Zack Nelson, Tahith Chong, Lasse Nordas, Jordan Clark, Kal Naismith, Reece Burke, Shandon Baptiste. Referee: Darren Bond.