Edwards left to reflect on a 'difficult night' as Clarets run riot at Kenilworth Road

Luton boss Rob Edwards was left to rue a ‘difficult night’ as he saw his Hatters side thrashed 4-1 at Kenilworth Road by Burnley this evening.

With this fixture being a Premier League encounter last term, then the game was meant to see Town lay a marker down for the season ahead, with Edwards speaking before the game about his clear ambitions of winning promotion back to the top flight. However, Luton didn’t deliver the kind of performance that showed they would be capable of that, although that has to come with the pretty hefty caveat that Town are still without six first team players, Jordan Clark missing out on the night as well.

Although Jamaican international Amari’i Bell was fit enough to take his place on the bench, Luton had to field three teenagers in Reuell Walters, Joe Johnson and Zack Nelson, all three making their full league debuts, Nelson and Johnson caught out by balls forward for the Clarets opening two goals. Tahith Chong pulled one back early in the second period, but late goals from Dara O'Shea and Vitinho condemned Town to a heavy defeat.

Although Luton’s fans could accept such a scoreline in the top flight, stomaching such hefty defeats in the Championship will be far harder, but with such a depleted squad available to him, Edwards urged those in attendance to look at that fact, especially with the campaign just one game old. He said: “I just thought two balls in behind, set-piece and a counter attack were the moments that were really frustrating and disappointing for us, things that we were vulnerable to playing this way.

“It was a difficult first night in terms of the result, I’ve obviously got to try and put emotions aside and look at the bigger picture. There was a lot of good things there as well, a lot of good control, a really good 20 minute spell after half time that got us back in the game, but ultimately we showed some vulnerabilities and with their quality, they punished us.

“Those balls in behind, a couple of mistakes, a couple of young lads will learn from those moments and be better for it. I said this before the game, we will get better over the next few weeks. I was doing the talk to the players at the end, I’ve got six or seven pretty key individuals standing behind me in their normal clothes because they’re not quite ready yet, not available.

"That will help us and we’re working hard to try and bring a couple in as well, but a difficult start. I’ve got to now pick people up and go again and I can understand people’s frustration, but looking at the thing as a whole, there were actually a lot of good things we showed against a good team.”

When Chong got Town back in the game before the midway point in the second period, Edwards opted making against any substitutions until Luton were 3-1 behind, the fourth arriving before Andros Townsend had even touched the ball. Long-serving midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu was the only other alteration with three minutes to go and on why he didn’t make changes earlier, Edwards added: “We had a lot of momentum at this point. I turned round and was thinking, what’s going to improve us at the moment? So that’s why I did what I did.”