Edwards hails 'amazing' Luton support but doesn't want anyone to be happy with Premier League defeats

Luton boss Rob Edwards doesn’t want any associated with the club to be happy or accept losing matches this season, regardless of the fact that the Hatters find themselves competing in one of, if not the best league in the world, the Premier League.

Town began their top flight campaign by taking a full allocation of 3,001 supporters to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, the visiting supporters a credit to their team from before the game, throughout the 90 minutes and long after the full time whistle.

Loud and proud throughout, the atmosphere was cranked up even more once Carlton Morris tucked home the Hatters’ first ever Premier League goal with 10 minutes to go, and even when that hope evaporated following late goals from Simon Adingra and Evan Ferguson which sealed a 4-1 victory for the Seagulls.

When the Hatters players went over to thank the travelling fans at the end, the away end was bouncing to the Freed From Desire Song by GALA and Gala Rizzatto, giving their heroes a tumultuous ovation for their efforts on the south coast.

It was reciprocated by Edward and his squad, but as he did last season when he spoke about how his Town side shouldn’t be considered ‘underdogs’ in their quest for the play-offs they eventually ended up winning, the Luton manager doesn’t want a degree of acceptance creeping in about being beaten in the top flight of English football.

When asked about how his first game managing in the Premier League had gone, and the level of support both he and his team received at Brighton, he said: “I don’t like losing, so I didn’t enjoy it that much.

“It was nice for them (fans) to come here, celebrate and to be down here for the first Premier League game for the football club, but I don’t want anyone to be happy about losing football matches, we’re certainly not.

“We accept that we’re going to at times this year because of the level we’re at, but we don’t like it.

"It was amazing the support that we had, the reception that they gave us at the end was terrific as well, so massive thanks to them, they mean so much to us.”

Skipper Tom Lockyer was another to hail the Luton supporters who had made the trip, as he knows just what a part they can play in Town’s quest to stay up this term.

He continued: “It’s incredible isn’t it and that’s what we’re going to need all season.

"The way they clapped us off at the end, they know we’re not going to be favourites going into many games this season, if any, so they’re going to be with us all the way and we’re going to need them.

"They were fantastic and I can’t thank them enough.

"Fair play to the ones who got the tickets, I’m sure we could have sold that out 10 times, so the following this year is going to be something special and we’re going to need them a lot."

During his press conference after the contest, Edwards was asked if he could use the success of Brighton, who themselves were promoted in 2017 and have now qualified for the Europa League courtesy of a sixth placed finish last season, as inspiration for his own side.

He added: “I think it’s dangerous for me to say they’re a model for us to look for.

"What they are is it shows if you’ve got a plan and you’ve got a way of doing things and you commit to that, then you can not only stay in the league, then you can thrive.

"We’re Luton Town, we’ve got to do things differently.

"We won’t be able to do what Brighton have done, we have to do it our way.

"We have got a plan, we’ve had that over the last decade or so and had a lot of success.

"We’re now going into what’s probably the biggest challenge the club’s had.

"We know how big a scale of challenge it is, but we can’t change what we do just because of that.”