Edwards gearing up for a massive March as Luton face three sides in the bottom half of the table

Luton boss Rob Edwards is preparing for a hugely important month which could go some way to shaping the Hatters’ efforts to stay in the Premier League this season.

Town kick off their run of five top flight matches in March at home to Aston Villa this evening, before heading to Crystal Palace next weekend and travelling to AFC Bournemouth for their rearranged fixture on Wednesday, March 13. Luton also host relegation rivals Nottingham Forest in a massive relegation clash on March 16, before an international break, as they eventually end the month at Tottenham Hotspur.

With 15 points to play for, and the Hatters having just eight games to go afterwards, including trips to both Arsenal and Manchester City, on the significance of the upcoming contests, especially the trio of games involving Palace, Bournemouth and Forest, Edwards said: “It (March) is big, I’m not going to sit here and lie and go it’s not the be-all and end-all. It’s not actually the be-all and end-all, but they are, they’re important games, clearly, that’s obvious.

"I know what games we’ve got coming are, but Villa is all we’re focusing on right now. Certainly the three after that before the international break are huge games, and they’re only going to get bigger and bigger as it goes on until the end. If they are getting bigger and bigger as it goes, then it means we’re doing something right as we’re still in that mix as well, so four really big games now before the break.

“We’ve got 13 games left in the league and every single one of them is of the utmost importance. Villa’s next, after that Palace will become the most important one. We’ve got some real tough ones, but they’re all difficult, they all bring different challenges. Every game in the Premier League for us is really, really hard.”

Asked if he felt there was now a mini-league up to 13th place Crystal Palace, who are level on points with Bournemouth in 14th, the pair eight in front of Town, with Fulham in 12th, some 12 points clear at the time of writing, Edwards wasn’t so sure. He added: “I don’t know and I wouldn’t want to not include anyone and not be harsh or naive or wrong really.

"There’ll be a number of teams who are in the mix and a number of teams who are above that who won’t feel safe either because anything can happen in this league. It’s quite easy to go on a run of not winning for three of four games, likewise, you’ve seen it from a number of teams, a really good run and you can jump up quite quickly as well.

"I’m not looking too much at who’s around us, above or below at the moment, but I don’t think anyone in that bottom half will feel too safe right now, everyone will be looking to get as many points as possible. Earlier in the season, Bournemouth had a difficult time in terms of results but then went on an amazing run and jumped up really, really quickly and that’s just one example. There’s a few of them, Wolves had it difficult as well, then just went bang and they’re having a fantastic season. so you can turn it around.

”Our performances in the main have been very consistent. It’s hard for us to have consistent results at this level, but if we’re getting consistent performances then I’m pleased with that as that gives us the best chance to get results. If we don’t play well, I’m pretty sure what’s going to happen then, so we’ve got to concentrate on our performances.”