Edwards labels Championship a 'mad league' after Bluebirds' dramatic upturn in form

Luton boss Rob Edwards believes the dramatic upturn in form for tonight’s opponents Cardiff City demonstrates just what a ‘mad league’ the Championship is.​

The Bluebirds began the campaign in appalling form, losing six out of the first seven games of the season, scoring just twice and conceding 17 goals, to sit bottom of the table with a single point to their name. A 2-0 reverse at home to Leeds United signalled the end of manager Erol Bulut’s reign as first team coach Omer Riza took caretaker charge, City losing 4-1 at Hull City.

However a 1-0 success over Millwall at the start of October stopped the rot and Cardiff had been on fire ever since, winning all of their last four home fixtures, including thrashing Portsmouth 5-0 and scoring twice late on to defeat Norwich City 2-1 at the weekend. They have also drawn their last two on the road, which means they are now unbeaten in six, taking 14 points from 18, a run that has propelled them up 17th in the table and three places above the Hatters.

Ahead of the contest, Edwards said: “That’s the Championship isn't it, it's a mad league. Omer has come in and done great, he’s a really good coach. I know him a little bit from my time at the FA and Watford as well and it's good to see him doing well. They’ll be a really difficult test now, they’re playing with a lot of confidence. They've got really good individual players, a nice way of playing as well, with and without the ball, a good identity, so it will be a really tough game."

Top scorer Callum Robinson has also hit some good form, bagging his fifth of the season at the weekend, as on the Republic of Ireland international, Edwards continued: “It’s similar to (Josh) Maja with West Brom, he’ll be dropping into different spaces, he won’t always be playing on that last line all the time. He plays it really well, he's very clear in what he does and he's intelligent, but he’s obviously a threat in the box as well. He's got good qualities, especially at this level, he’s proved it for a long, long time.”

Although Town are nowhere near producing the kind of form Cardiff have displayed, garnering just five points from their last six fixtures, with one victory in that sequence, also beaten by Plymouth Argyle in the match beforehand too, Edwards believes that on home soil at least, the Hatters fortunes are starting to change. They have managed two wins and two draws from their last five, and produced what he called three dominating displays in a row against Watford, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion.

The boss said: “We’ve played against some good teams in there, but really dominated all three of those games and we want to try and have the same kind of impact in the game. Try and play in the right area of the pitch like we have done and obviously score more goals than the opposition which would help. So we do go into it off the back of some consistency now and that's what we'll look to take into the game.

"There’s a good feel around the place as there always is, the lads have trained really well and we’re looking forward to it. A really good game against a team that’s in-form and confident but we’ll really want to come out on top and if we get it right we know we can.”

Edwards also felt that the manner in which his side have played in their last two games at Kenilworth Road definitely demonstrates just how much they have improved since returning to this level, even if the results haven’t been there to back it up yet, adding: “It’s funny, it feels like the lads have (found their feet) now. Sunderland, a couple of years ago we played in the play-offs and were lucky enough to come out on top, but we probably had to play the game a different way.

"The home game in the semi-final was quite dominant, but we were similar again the other day against them. The West Brom game, the last time we played them under Carlos (Corberan) as well (3-2 defeat), we went 2-0 up quite early but then really they were the better team and I felt that was a really dominant performance from us the other day.

"It shows the growth in the team and how far we’ve come that we probably weren’t at our best the other day but dominated a really good team. We didn’t win, so that’s got to be our job. We have improved in a couple of years, but that’s got to turn into results now. Not just talk about it, we’ve got to go and do it, so hopefully we’re going to see some consistency and off the back of that results will follow, that’s certainly what we’re hoping for.”