Edwards confident Luton will have no issue in gearing up for 'Premier League' clash with Burnley
Town chief previews this evening’s game with the Clarets
Hatters boss Rob Edwards doesn’t anticipate his side having any trouble in getting themselves up to face Burnley in their Championship opener at Kenilworth Road this evening.
After a season in which Luton relished all of the razzmatazz that came with being in the Premier League, they begin their attempts to get back there at the first time of asking when facing a Clarets side who were also in the top flight last term, the pair relegated with Sheffield United. Tonight’s opponents have since changed managers, Vincent Kompany going to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, replaced by former AFC Bournemouth and Fulham chief Scott Parker, who has two promotions under his belt from this level, with Fulham and AFC Bournemouth.
Luton haven't beaten Burnley on home soil since a 2-1 Division Two success in November 1999 when Neil Midgley scored twice, losing all four of their previous encounters in Bedfordshire, but with the two clubs tipped among the favourites for the title, Edwards knows it’s a big game even at such an early stage of proceedings. It was something he preferred too, saying: “I think that’s good for us and they’ll probably see it in the same way as well.
"It’s not going to be difficult to get up for this game. There can’t be anyone downbeat about getting relegated or anything like that, this is a really big game. Monday night, Sky TV are here, in front of the cameras, it’s almost like last season anyway and what we were experiencing, it’s got to bring out the best in us. I think it’s great for us because it will feel as much like a Premier League game as it can.
"We know them quite well, we played against them a lot in the last couple of seasons and Scott knows the Championship very well, he knows the Premier League very well, especially as a player. He’s had big success as a manager in this league, so I expect them to be very strong. Before the game I’ll be feeling sick like always and then you get into it and the fun starts. It will be a special night, this place will be rocking so we're looking forward to it.”
Although results might not have gone as Edwards would have wanted during pre-season, Luton only beating one team of note in Ukrainian Premier League side Ruhk Lviv, losing to both Goztepe and Celta Vigo, while Town were weld to a 2-2 draw by Scottish Premier League outfit Dundee United as well. He still hasn’t been able to welcome back any of the players who missed the back end of last season due to injury, but despite that, feels the squad are in the best place mentally ahead of tonight’s match.
He continued: “The mood is good, but I would say it’s (pre-season) been challenging because we’ve still got the hangover. A lot of the injuries from last season, as they were long term ones, so we’re juggling that a little bit. We’re working hard in the market trying to do a bit, we’ve still got one or two we’re trying to bring in, but I’ve seen a great attitude and focus from the players. They've been great in giving us everything, so we go in with a lot of positivity and hope as you do into every season, knowing that over the next few weeks we’re going to get stronger as well.”
Luton go into the contest on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Celta Vigo at the weekend, the La Liga outfit scoring two late goals to take the spoils at Kenilworth Road. On his side’s final warm-up to the gruelling campaign ahead, Edwards added: "I thought it was a good test against a good team. The performance overall was pretty good. The pitch is still long, we're protecting it for next week and the intentions were good, but we probably lacked a bit of the intensity that we'd want in the final third.
"The attitude was there, there was some really, really good stuff. We dominated a lot of the game against a big team, what we need to be able to do then is turn that into goals. Second half it was a bit better again. A couple of mistakes for the goals leaves a little bit of a sour taste on what was a really good performance, dominant performance in the second half, so overall pretty pleased.”