Edwards insists 'aggressive' Luton are a different side as they look to solve the 'rubik's cube' test of Brighton

Luton boss Rob Edwards is relishing the chance to solve the 'rubik’s cube’ that is Brighton & Hove Albion when going up against the top six chasing side at Kenilworth Road this evening.

After a tough baptism to life in the top flight, which started with a 4-1 opening day defeat to the Seagulls at the Amex in August, only having 29 percent of the ball and seeing 27 shots rain down on their goal, with 12 on target, the Hatters have improved steadily in recent weeks and months. Those improvements have shown in some terrific results as well, drawing with Liverpool on home soil and beating both Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, as they are now on a run of just one defeat from seven in all competitions.

Town have also pushed the likes of Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea extremely close on home soil, only losing by a single goal in all four of those matches, while another factor that has improved has been Luton’s quality on the ball, having more possession than their opposition in their last five matches, which includes games against Chelsea, Burnley and Everton.

Although Edwards is prepared for that sequence to possibly end this evening, he said: “It might, but we’ll give it a go. We’ll probably expect them to have a little bit more of it, they do against pretty much everyone don't they? That being said, we’ll play our way and see how the game goes.

“They're excellent with the ball, their use of it and how they try to exploit it and create space, take the space, get behind you. They don't just do it for looking pretty, there's a reason behind it, and they're like a rubik’s cube to try and work out, but we’re looking forward to it.”

One thing that Edwards does know is that his side are world’s part from the team that ran out on the south coast some six months ago, as they are making a real fist of Premier League survival now, a win this evening potentially taking them out of the bottom three. He continued: “I think it’s really obvious, I know maybe not many people will watch Luton but it’s quite obvious how far we’ve come.

"We’re a much more aggressive team now, we’ll press a lot higher, we’re taking the ball more, we still retain a threat from set-pieces, from counter attacks, but I think we look a completely different unit from when we faced them in the first game of the season. I do think that any game at Kenilworth Road is unique and different anyway, so we’re looking forward to it.”

With Luton getting plenty of success from their fast press led by Elijah Adebayo and Andros Townsend, with Brighton happy to invite some real pressure on to their defenders and then free midfielders such as Billy Gilmour and Pascal Gross, Edwards know they have to get it spot on against Roberto De Zerbi’s side. He said: “It has to be done meticulously, but I’ll go down the Ange Postecoglu (Spurs manager) route and I’ll just say, ‘that’s us mate.’

"We’ll do what we do and Brighton will do what they do and if they’re better than us on the day then we’ll hold our hands up and keep learning and keep trying to get better at what we do. I think we've developed and evolved to what we are now and we believe in it. I think the players believe in it, our supporters believe in it, the last thing I want to do is just curl up, wait and die slowly, so we’ll go for them.”

Edwards did still retain plenty of respect for a side who finished sixth last term and are now seventh this year, while still in the FA Cup and Europa League knock-out stages well, adding: “There’s a really good plan there and they’re really impressive. In terms of the football, they've moved forward and progressed year on year at this level.

"Chris Hughton bringing them through, Graham Potter moving them forward, Roberto De Zerbi taking it on and he deserves to be getting all the plaudits that he is now as they're really impressive, really well coached, brilliant players. The club as a whole, it looks from the outside to be in a brilliant, brilliant place. It’s a very difficult game for us, but we’re looking forward to it and it will be good to see how far we’ve come since we’ve faced them in the opening game.”