Edwards ready for Cherries test ahead of Lockyer's emotional return to Bournemouth

​Luton boss Rob Edwards is expecting an emotional night when his side head to AFC Bournemouth this evening, the first time they have been to the Vitality Stadium since Tom Lockyer’s cardiac arrest last year, although backed his side to be able to focus fully on the events on the pitch.

Back on December 16, the game was stopped just before the hour mark after the Welsh centre half collapsed on the pitch, revealing later that he had in fact died for just over two minutes, before being brought back to life by the medical staff who rushed to his aid on the day. Referee Simon Hooper quickly abandoned the match, as Lockyer was taken to hospital where he has since had a ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) fitted and is now thankfully making a full recovery.

Town now travel back to the south coast to take on the Cherries tonight, with Lockyer due to be in attendance as well, as speaking about the game, Edwards knows it will stir up some feelings for all who were there the first time, but believes his players haven’t had any trouble in getting themselves up for the match despite that.

He said: “I think it will be emotional going back and reliving that experience, but we know we have to do it. I know there are some plans, Locks will be able to go back and meet the people who helped save his life, he’ll be able to see the supporters as well who were unbelievable, and their players, their staff. It will be nice to almost close that part of the story up if you like and then be able to concentrate on moving forward.

"It was a really difficult experience that we all went through and the main thing now is Locks is okay, but there is a job to do and a football match to play and we’ve got to concentrate on that. We’ve got full focus on the game and we’ve got a job to do.”

Lockyer, whose partner has just given birth to a baby girl, has done a number of interviews in recent weeks about the events before Christmas, confirming that he is looking forward to being able to thank those personally for saving his life. Asked whether he has been involved at the Brache ahead of the contest, Edwards continued: “He’s okay, he hasn’t been involved, but he is going to be coming down which is going to be great.

“It will be really nice for him to meet those people, those heroes, to see the supporters and I sure he’ll get a brilliant reception as well, so I think it will be really nice for him. I’m sure it will be emotional for him, but he’s got bigger things on his mind at the moment, new baby, new arrival, and he’s in a position where that’s his main focus right now.

"That being said, going forward we’d like to have him here on a weekly basis, being around it more as we can lean on his experience and he’ll be able to help us. But with his new arrival, he's been busy looking after this family.”

Meanwhile, on whether it has been hard preparing his players for a game that will no doubt dredge up various memories of an event that anyone who was there will always remember, as he added: “No, it’s been easy, it’s been business as usually and I think you’ve all seen it matters to me and I care, but we’ve got a really important job to do. Once we’re there, it might bring one or two things back, everyone will deal with things differently, but it’s all about being focused on winning a game of football, trying to.

“It was a really difficult experience that we all went through and the main thing now is Locks is okay. You process it and everybody deals with things differently. It will be emotional going back and reliving that experience, but there’s a job to do and a football match to play and we’ve got to make sure we do that.”