Edwards jokes he'd have been trying to knock Adebayo's 'block off' if Luton striker hadn't challenged Royals keeper!

Town boss Rob Edwards hailed the bravery shown by striker Elijah Adebayo for the part he played in Carlton Morris’s equaliser at Reading last night, before joking he would have been ‘trying to knock his block off’ had he not!

With 69 minutes gone, Adebayo, who was part of a triple substitution with Luke Berry and Jordan Clark, came on as Luton were a goal down but a man up at the Madejski Stadium, Royals forward Andy Carroll dismissed for two yellow cards.

Then as time was starting to run out, Berry picked up the ball from Alfie Doughty and whipped in a terrific cross that saw Adebayo go up against home keeper Joe Lumley to try and win the ball.

It saw Lumley, who displayed every single timewasting tactic under the sun during the evening, punch the ball against the Luton forward, sending it spiralling into the night sky, Morris reacting quickest to get up above Naby Sarr and bundle the ball over the line.

On Adebayo’s efforts to inadvertently set up his team-mate, Edwards said: “He was brave and you expect that from your big number nines, so fair play to him for almost in a way combining.

"It was a great cross from Bez first and foremost, I thought he had a real impact in the game and Eli, he had to go for it.

"If he didn’t, I’d have been trying to knock his block off!

"So really pleased.”

With Morris now just one away from 20 Championship goals for the Hatters this term, on playing Town’s impressive forward options, which also contain Cauley Woodrow, wingback Cody Drameh said: “You can see his quality, 19 goals in the league now, so I’m delighted for him.

“The big men, we try to feed them as much as possible as we know they can do it in the air and with their feet, so it’s just about trying to keep feeding them with quality.”

Although Luton had 18 shots on the night, with five on the target and 68 percent possession, they could only breach a Reading defence, fighting desperately for their second tier survival, once.

Edwards added: “They’re playing for Noel (Hunt, interim boss) at the moment, they’re playing for the fans, they’ve got a real response.

"They drew with Burnley here at the weekend, it shows the togetherness of their group and with the sending off as well, it probably got the crowd going a little bit more and engaged with them, something to hang on to.

"It was going to be really difficult to break them down, so again, full credit to the lads for finding a way.

“There was some really good football, we had to try and find different ways and be varied in our play because they're going to give you some width, they’re not going to want you to go through.

"We asked questions, we did create some chances, we had a lot of shots, a lot of attempts on goal.

"Some brilliant blocks from them as well as shots on target, but we have to settle for the point.”