Edwards wants Luton to win their battle against Premier League relegation for skipper Tom Lockyer

Luton boss Rob Edwards wants his players to embody exactly what skipper Tom Lockyer means to the club in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

The 29-year-old is one of the main reasons why the Hatters find themselves in the top flight at all this campaign, with a number of starring performances last term as Town won promotion from the Championship. Named in the division's Team of the Year, Lockyer also won five end of season awards, most notably the Player of the Season, becoming the lynchpin in a Hatters defence that kept a number of clean sheets, also scoring the winning goal against Sunderland in the play-off semi-final as well.

He had made an impressive start to life in the top flight, back in the Wales team too, before collapsing on the pitch at the Vitality Stadium last weekend after suffering a cardiac arrest. Now home and recovering, having undergone a procedure to have an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) fitted, Lockyer will have to watch as his team-mates attempt to stay in the highest tier of English football.

Edwards has told the Town squad that to do that they need to go about it in the way their hugely popular captain would, saying: “I spoke a little bit about what Tom means to us, me, how he embodies this football club, what he is to this football club. I’ve got to say it now, if we really think about it, he’ll be one of the most important players this club has had.

"I know this club has had really good times in its history, but we’ve had some pretty tough times in recent years. He’s played a huge part, along with a lot of the lads here, they have played a huge part in the massive success for this club. So I know it’s only right his name will be sung for a long, long time here by our supporters and it’s right that I say that.

"He’s a really important man, we spoke about that and what he means to us and we want to embody that as a team. If going forward we can all act, behave, play like Tom Lockyer, then we’ll be going the right way. We all care for him and love him, but he wants us to go and do it and we do want to go and for it for him. If we can harness that then great as we want to go and do him proud.”

With Edwards anticipating an ‘emotionally charged’ Kenilworth Road for the visit of Newcastle United this afternoon, he revealed Lockyer’s family have been in touch to offer their support ahead of the fixture, continuing: “They recognise as well we’ve got a job to do. Steve, Tom’s dad, was wishing me luck for the game. They want us to go and win the game, that’s what Tom wants and that was never in doubt. My biggest concern this week has been not almost using it and we’ve got that across to the players as well.

"We do want to do it for Tom, we do, I do, the players do as well. Its mattered to us anyway, but it’s important for everyone, the supporters as well, they want to show their appreciation for a really important figure at this club, so we do want to do it for him. It will be an emotionally-charged day, but understanding there’s a focus to that too and there’s a job to do.”

Asked just how his players have been in the build-up to the fixture, after receiving the news that thankfully Lockyer is now making the first steps on his recovery trail, Edwards said: “You don’t know how everyone’s going to react as everyone’s different, and you don’t know when some people might react in the future to it as well.

"It was my first experience of anything like that and it's been challenging, but the players have been incredibly strong and they’ve stuck together. If they could get any closer, or tighter, or if a bond could be even stronger between them, maybe something as horrific as this could do that.

"I can’t speak highly of them enough this week, they’ve been incredible, incredibly professional, really understanding of a difficult situation, but they understand there’s a task and a focus and they’ll be ready for the game.”

With the manager himself clearly extremely emotional in the aftermath of events on the south coast, on just how he has coped this week, he added: “I feel I’ve had a lot of support around me. I think it’s a testament to this football club when I’ve had more people asking how I am than my lads. We’ve got a great group of people here and we’ve all supported each other, and in difficult times, difficult moments like this, that’s really important.

"I feel like I’ve had loads of support around me, from Gary (Sweet, chief executive) the board, from the staff and players, my family, everybody. It was a scary moment, but the main thing is he’s okay and we do have a job to do and a focus and again, we want to do that for Tom. So it’s only right that my focus turns to my job, and then the next game.

“I think everyone deals with it differently, I’ve had time, I've been able to speak about it, the right supporting channels have been given to us. Opportunities are there for people to talk if needed, staff, players alike. It’s still very raw, it was six days ago, and I think it probably will be for quite a long time. But being able to talk about it and do my job along with the help of my brilliant, brilliant team that I have around me has helped.”