FEATURE: Hatters striker Elijah Adebayo proving to be Luton Town's lucky charm

It used to be when Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu scored for Luton, usually a banger of course, that the Hatters never lost.

The midfielder had a proud 18-match unbeaten run when he was on target, Town picking up 17 wins and one draw in that time, until the first away game of the season, Mpanzu scoring at the Hawthorns to bring the score back to 3-2 against one of the promotion favourites in West Bromwich Albion, but with time running out, the visitors couldn’t find a leveller.

With the DR Congo international’s record ended, then step forward January signing Elijah Adebayo, who is now beginning to fill those shoes.

The forward, who Town paid an undisclosed fee to League Two Walsall for his services, netted on his third appearances and first start, sorting his feet out at the back post to poke Luton into a 1-0 lead against Millwall last season, although the Lions eventually hit back in stoppage time to equalise.

He then scored the winner in a 3-2 triumph over Sheffield Wednesday, the Hatters coming back from 2-0 down at half time thanks to goals from Kal Naismith and Ryan Tunnicliffe.

Adebayo showed his prowess from the penalty spot for the first time in Luton colours, to make it 2-0 against Coventry and capped off a fine late comeback as Nathan Jones' side won 3-1 at Wycombe.

To finish off the campaign, the striker then made it 2-2 at Bristol City in April, Luton again hitting back from a two goal deficit, to triumph 3-2 thanks to Harry Cornick’s winner.

That made it five games Adebayo had found the net in, with four wins and one draw, while this term the run showed no sign of ending, as he got his and Luton's account up and running in a 3-0 opening day win over Peterborough.

A first half brace, including one from the spot, put Town 3-0 ahead against Swansea as although they conceded three after the break, still emerged with a point.

Another double for Adebayo led to victory, Coventry swept aside 5-0, before he scored in three appearances in a row, rescuing a late point at Derby, with the only goal against Hull and then putting Town 2-1 in front on the Sky TV cameras as Luton beat Middlesbrough 3-1.

That means this season, he has scored eight goals in six matches, with five wins and a draw taking his overall record to 11 games in which the forward has found the net in, the Hatters winning nine and drawing two, claiming 29 points from a possible 33.

A quick flick back through Adebayo’s record for his previous teams shows this is no fluke either.

In the season he alerted Luton's attentions to earn his switch to Kenilworth Road, the former Fulham youngster had managed 10 goals for Walsall, the Saddlers unbeaten in the nine games he found the net, with six wins and three draws.

Adebayo bagged the only goal in a 1-0 win over Grimsby, as he was then on target in a 1-1 draw with Colchester, before scoring the winner as Leyton Orient were seen off 2-1 at the Banks's Stadium.

He was on target in 1-1 draws at Mansfield and Newport County, before again scoring in three consecutive matches, Walsall beating Tranmere 3-1, Bolton 2-1 and Oldham 3-2, as his last two strikes came in 3-1 triumph at Port Vale.

Rewind further and at the back end of the 2019-20 season, Adebayo scored two as Walsall beat Exeter 3-1 on February 22, 2020 and another in a 2-2 draw with Port Vale, as you have to go way back to January 11, 2020 for his first actual defeat when celebrating a goal, Cheltenham running out 3-1 victors.

That means that in total, Adebayo has gone almost 19 months since he last wheeled away in joy and was on the losing side, a run of some 22 matches, with the side he has been on winning 16 times and drawing six.

In fact the only really poor run of his career came earlier in that season as he also scored in defeats against Carlisle and Mansfield, although they sandwiched a win at Port Vale, as he was on the losing side in three out of four contests.

Adebayo's success rate was similar at Swindon too, scoring five times during the 2018-19 season at the Country Ground, the Robins winning four, including the now customary success for the forward at Port Vale, drawing one.

Even his debut season was fairly good, with two goals for Fulham U21s in the Checkatrade Trophy, the Cottagers picking up a win and a defeat, plus two when on loan at Cheltenham, in a triumph and a defeat for the Robins.

All that Luton fans are really worried about though is the next time he raises his arms in finding the onion bag, hopefully at QPR a week on Friday, that the Hatters are celebrating yet another three points in their quest to try and break into the Championship play-off picture this season.