Edwards eager to shift all the praise on to Luton's players following Stoke victory

Luton boss Rob Edwards was eager to shift all the praise for yesterday’s 1-0 victory over Stoke City, which made it three league wins in a row for the second second since the manager took over, on to the players.

Midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s first goal of the season with just six minutes gone was enough for the Hatters to claim all three points, making it back-to-back wins on home soil for the first time this season.

With Edwards a hugely popular figure amongst supporters already, when he was doing his lap of honour around Kenilworth Road at the full-time whistle, he made sure to point repeatedly at his squad of players who had done just the business for him, applauding them as well, to make sure they received the acknowledgement they deserved from the home faithful.

Coming into the fixture off the back of a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City on Tuesday night, Edwards said: “Its been a fantastic week.

"It’s down to the players and I was trying to make that point when I was out there, pointing to the players.

"It’s brilliant we’ve got a great rapport, a real connection with the supporters, but the lads are the ones going out over the white line and doing it, working incredibly hard for each other and I thought today we deserved it.

“It’s a team effort and it’s really important to me that I show my appreciation, I know how important the supporters are, so I’ll always do that, win, lose or draw.

"But it’s important they recognise those lads and how hard they’re working for the club and for them and for each other as well, as they’re so together.

"So it was important that they recognised that, and they did, they recognised that.”

After a dominant start to the game, Luton couldn’t quite get a second goal their intricate play deserved, Jordan Clark denied what looked a clear-cut penalty, Carlton Morris firing over and Amari’i Bell seeing his impressive long range blast saved.

Although Stoke came into the game more the longer it wore on, Edwards was never too worried they were going to be breached, as he continued: “I thought we started very well, were very aggressive, started down the front foot, and the goal showed that.

“Alfie (Doughty) won the header, we won the second ball, Pelly latched on to it and we scored a really good goal.

"That set us up well and then we couldn’t quite get the second goal, but I didn't feel too troubled, even at 1-0.

“We’ve always got to be careful and respectful and we know they’ve got some good players and can have some good moments.

"There was a couple of hairy moments when the ball came in from set-pieces, but I didn't feel under too much threat and I thought we managed the game pretty well in seeing it out.

“We had to be diligent and set-pieces are a big part of the game, especially in the Football League, we were really diligent with those.

"I thought we looked a threat, especially early on, we nearly got Locks (Tom Lockyer) in on a couple as well, from our first corner, but overall really, really pleased with the week.

"It's been a busy week, and it doesn’t stop there, we go again on Tuesday.”

The only moment that caused real concerns was just after the hour mark when a clearance into the evening sky inside Town’s area saw Ben Wilmot nod home, only for the goal to be ruled out by referee Dean Whitestone, one of the better officials that Kenilworth Road has seen this season, for a foul on keeper Ethan Horvath.

On the decision, Edwards added: “I thought it was a clear foul, I knew it was going to get given.”