Edwards explains why he took Hatters skipper Lockyer off at half time against Gillingham

Town boss Rob Edwards admitted that taking off captain Tom Lockyer in last night’s 3-2 home Carabao Cup second round triumph over Gilingham was always in his plans, even if the substitution came slightly earlier than he had anticipated.

The 28-year-old was making his first appearance on home soil since he collapsed on the field at Wembley in the play-off final victory over Coventry City back in May, as he was afforded a fine ovation both before kick-off and also when leading the side out.

Playing on the right of the back three this time to allow summer signing Mads Andersen to get some minutes in the centre of Town’s defence, Lockyer helped the hosts keep a clean sheet in the opening 45 minutes, as they took a 2-0 lead into the break, before not returning for the second period, Reece Burke on in his place.

With the Welsh international having played every minute of Town’s Premier League campaign so far, Edwards had always been looking to rest him as the game wore on, saying: “It was planned to do the change, probably not that early, but Locks was a little bit stiff, so we looked after him.

"The plan was to do Locks around 55, 60 minutes, but we did it a little bit earlier than anticipated.”