Hatters boss relishes Dubai trip after an 'emotional rollercoaster' of a Premier League season

Luton boss Rob Edwards believes a chance for his players to spend some time together away from the pressures of the Premier League at the club’s training camp in Dubai this week is just what they need after what he described as an ‘emotional rollercoaster’ of a season to date.

The Hatters have just got through an exhausting period of games as they had six top flight games in December, picking up six points from a possible 18, also going on to play three times January as well, two of them FA Cup fixtures, having needed a replay to get past League One Bolton Wanderers, also gaining a hard-fought point in their trip to relegation rivals Burnley.

Along with playing the matches, Town’s squad saw their hugely popular and influential skipper Tom Lockyer suffer a cardiac arrest on the pitch at AFC Bournemouth, leading to the game being abandoned, although thankfully the Welsh international is now at home and recovering. With England engulfed in a cold snap and temperatures plummeting, the Hatters opted to head to sunnier climes following the 2-1 victory over the Trotters on Tuesday night, where they will get some training in ahead of their fourth round trip to Everton on Saturday, January 27.

Asked just how important the time away will be, Edwards said: “We can go and get a little bit of warm weather which is nice and on the back of a good result, we can enjoy it. We’ll get some good training in, get a little bit more togetherness and time there as well. It makes sense, it’s a winter break for a reason, let’s use it, let’s get a bit of down time and be together. It's been a tough season for us so far, we’ve done a lot of learning, everything that happened with Locks as well, it’s been quite an emotional rollercoaster already, so I think a bit of time together will be really important for us now.

“We get a few days of training, a bit of down time, get some good food together as you don't get to do that all the time. Even when we’re all living in the same country, you might go to work every day, have a little bit of food at lunchtime but there everyone disperses and off they go. It’ll be nice to get a few days together and take stock. It's been a hard season, we’ll come back refreshed, ready to go again.”