Edwards wants to see 'emotion' and 'passion' on show from Luton as Town aim to boost relegation hopes

Hatters boss Rob Edwards has demanded his side play with both ‘emotion’ and ‘passion’ as they look to pick up an absolutely crucial three points and boost their chances of staying in the Premier League this term.

A run of 10 games without a win, Town taking just three points from a possible 30 in that time, has seen Luton drop into the bottom three, as they are now three points behind a Nottingham Forest side who recently had four points deducted for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules, a decision they are currently appealing.

The Hatters did face Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Spurs and Arsenal in that time, only losing by more than one goal on just two occasions, at Anfield and the Emirates, while they did let a 3-0 half time advantage slip when beaten 4-3 at the Cherries as well. Now it is time for the nitty gritty though with Everton, who host Burnley, a side hot on the heels of Luton in second bottom, possibly facing their second deduction of the season for similar offences, with Forest away to Spurs on Sunday at 6pm and Brentford at top four chasers Aston Villa.

With that in mind, Edwards is aware just what a first win since beating Brighton 4-0 on January 30 will mean to the relegation picture, as he said: “We know that, and as difficult as it will be, a win will put us in a fantastic position. All our focus since that final whistle (against Arsenal) was about recovering and then really focus on this game. It can give us more belief, more confidence and of course three points would be at this stage really important to us. It’s a game that we can win, it’s not one that I can just say right, we’re going to turn up and because we’re at home, it’s not going to be easy at all, but it’s a game we can win.

"We’ve had one and a half tight games against them this season, we came off on the wrong end of the result a few weeks back which was really disappointing because of the position we put ourselves in, but we can take some confidence from things we did well and learn from things we didn’t, especially in the second half of that game.

"It is really important, but as I always say, the one thing we can control is our performance levels, our work-rate, our endeavour, the fight, the spirit. I want to see us playing with emotion, I want to see the passion there, I want to see the players really playing with their hearts on their sleeves. We can control that side, the result we can’t, we’ll have to see what happens with that.”

Edwards also wants to see a similar kind of effort coming from the terraces too, although is in no doubt that will be the case, continuing: “The supporters will play a huge part and they know that. They’ve been brilliant for us all season long, they were incredible on Wednesday night and that gave me a lot of belief and the lads as well.

"Going over to them at the end of the game, it was a really difficult game for us, but they saw, especially in the second half, a really good performance, a team that kept going, a team that kept fighting and kept trying to get that goal that they wanted. I think they were proud of their team as well, but we’ll need each other over the next four home games especially.

"We need the Kenny to be rocking and I know it will be. They’ll understand the importance of the role they can play for us as well. They’ve backed us through thick and thin with the challenging run that we’re having now, but they can see everyone giving everything. The fact we’re still in the fight, their belief is still there. You can see that after the game, they’re still encouraging us, you can see them, you can hear them, and that gives us a lot of hope which is great. Then we’ve got to deliver the performances, the fight, the endeavour, the passion from our team.”

With Town’s squad now playing for their own futures as top flight players, Edwards is confident the enormity of the next seven games hasn’t been lost on them, adding: “It’s inevitable the pressure will increase and ramp up, that’s okay, we’ve got to deal with that. We’ve dealt with high pressurised situations before, this time last season it was a different type of pressure, but it was on to produce results and win big games of football, so we’re capable of doing it. The players have spoken about it themselves, they know what it means, this last seven games and I think we’re okay with that kind of pressure.

“We’ve got to be able to deal with it, accept it and it’s got to bring out the best in us. It’s a huge game, it’s one that we have put the pressure on. I said immediately after the Arsenal game, this is about winning, however we do it. We’ve performed well in this run of games where we haven’t won. I’ll take a poor performance and win, I would, but we’ve got a better chance of winning if we perform well and that’s key.”