Edwards not drawn on Royals' points deductions as he readies Luton to face a Reading side 'fighting for their lives'

​Luton Town boss Rob Edwards has warned his side to be ready to face a galvanised Reading team who are fighting for their Championship lives at the Madejski Stadium this evening.

The Royals have dropped into the bottom three in recent weeks as a run of two wins from 15 games, plus a six point deduction for violating agreed budget restrictions after a previous breach of the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules, have hit hard.

They parted company with manager Paul Ince last Monday, U21 manager and former striker Noel Hunt taking over as interim until the summer, leading his side to a valiant goalless draw with already promoted Burnley on Saturday.

Next up is a Hatters team who still have an outside chance of catching second-placed Sheffield United, but to do that, Edwards knows they have to be at their very best.

He said: “They had a fantastic performance and result on the weekend against Burnley, the crowd and everyone seemed really with it and it’s like everybody pulled together in the same direction.

"They’ll get a lot of belief off that result and performance, so I’m sure it will be very similar again.

"They’ll want to build on that and it will be a really tough game.

“They’ve got some real power, they've got some pace as well, especially in the wide areas, and a mixture of experience and some youthfulness as well, so there’s some real threats there.

"They can mix it up and go quite direct, into Lucas Joao and Andy Carroll, the young lad (Kelvin Ehibhationham) that started on Saturday played well, so there’s some really good options they’ve got at the top end of the pitch.

"They can hurt you on the counter attack also, so it’s another really tough game, another team that are also fighting for their lives.

"The crowd will be on their side, so we've got to be really, really at it.

"We have been consistent for a while, it’s got to stay like that.”

When asked for his thoughts on the Royals’ points deduction, Edwards added: “I don’t want to comment on it really, I don’t want to say the wrong thing.

“All I will say is obviously it makes their situation harder.

"If I put myself in the players’ shoes, or the manager’s shoes, it will be really difficult for them to deal with.

"But it’s happened and they’ll have to find a way out of it.”

Town striker Cauley Woodrow, who is looking for a second successive start in the league for the first time this season in Berkshire tonight, added: “Every game in this division is tough.

"They’re struggling, they had a points deduction as well, but we’ll just focus on ourselves like we do every single game.

"We’re going to go there to get the win obviously, it will be a tough game, but we’re in a good place.

"We’re playing well and I’m sure we can put on a performance and if we do that we’ll have more than enough to win the game.”