Edwards expects the goals to come for Luton duo Morris and Adebayo
Forward pairing are yet to get off the mark this season
Luton boss Rob Edwards has confirmed attacker Elijah Adebayo is fit to face QPR this evening, as he remains confident that it’s only a matter of time before the goals start to flow for the forward and his striking partner Carlton Morris.
The 26-year-old started Town’s Carabao Cup second round clash against the R’s in midweek, as with time ticking away in the 1-1 draw, he stayed down after a heavy challenge, limping off the Loftus Park playing surface. He then came back on for the final moments though, but didn’t take a spot-kick in the ensuing shoot-out that the Hatters eventually lost 4-1.
Having scored 10 goals in the Premier League last term, with Morris, who bagged 20 when Town were last in the Championship, also reaching double figures in the top flight, notching 11 in total, hopes had been high that the duo could carry on where they left off this term. Four games in though and despite firing off 24 shots between them, neither have hit the target, but despite this, Edwards wasn’t overly concerned, saying: “His groin stiffened up right towards the end. He put in a heck of a shift, so he’s all right, we shoved him back out there to stand around for the last couple of minutes, but he’s recovered well, so he’s fine.
"I don’t think (they’re) snatching a little bit, they’ll come, as long as we keep getting in the right areas. They're getting chances, Carlton had another one again with his head, Eli had a good few moments, a nice snapshot immediately after we conceded and then he had a few ones on his left foot. One he tried to chop back inside, got blocked, a couple he went on his left, they’ll come. They've shown it over the last few years for us, keep getting in the right areas and the goals will come.”
It’s not just Morris and Adebayo who have struggled in front of goal, Luton scoring just twice in their opening four matches this term, Tahith Chong on target against Burnley in the opening game and then youngster Zack Nelson with a truly stunning strike from distance to make it 1-1 on Tuesday night. The last two fixtures have seen Luton rack up a hefty 38 shots, but only find the net once, as Edwards is anticipating as soon as one goes in, the goals will begin to flow.
He continued: “Hopefully, it will be great that, but it’s not necessarily how football works and we’ve got to earn it ultimately. We've got to take responsibility and be better, it’s not just a case of it’s going to happen. We’re trying really hard and we’re working really hard. The messages are right and the players understand it. We’re just seeing some real signs of it now so I’m pretty convinced that will be the case, but there’s no doubt we can be better in certain areas as well.”
Finding the net hadn’t been a problem for the Hatters last term, as they scored 52 times in the Premier League, finding the net in a record 18 successive top flight matches, also scoring against every top flight team in the process. Their lack of goals in the Championship isn’t for the want of trying, with 74 touches in the opposition’s penalty areas during their matches at Preston and QPR, as Edwards added: “There’s been good stuff and I don’t want to sound like a broken record as I don’t know how else to put it, but I said this a lot last year.
"I think people would take it last year as all right, you can play well against Chelsea and lose, but this year now there’s more pressure on us to win. I want to try and respect everyone and supporters, because I get the pressure and I know they won’t just accept playing well and not winning, so I understand that, but the best way to win is by doing what we’re doing at the moment, as it will come.
"I accept that we need to be better in certain areas and tighten up in certain bits and that’s down to me and down to the group to keep doing that. But there’s a lot of right things, good things that are happening. We were really aggressive (at QPR), a lot of good regains, the pressing was good, big chances created, good areas that we got into as well, so we’re going the right way.”