Hatters chief calls on Luton fans to bring the noise against Nottingham Forest

Luton boss Rob Edwards has called on Town fans to make their presence known from the word go when they turn up at Kenilworth Road for what is one of the biggest games of the season against Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

The Hatters host their fellow strugglers in what is a huge relegation six-pointer, although that could be even more should the Reds get a deduction for breaking Premier League rules when a decision is reached on their punishment in the near future. The club are doing their bit for the match, offering buy one get one free on drinks from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, an initiative that worked wonders ahead of the play-off semi-final success over Sunderland last season, the Hatters roared on to a 2-0 success as the Black Cats barely had a sniff.

With Luton knowing victory would lift them out of the bottom three for the next fortnight due to the international break, also cutting the gap on Everton as well, the Toffees possibly seeing further points taken away from their battle to stay up, Edwards called on the fans to bring the noise with them that he has witnessed at two specific games in his time as manager, saying: “They’re going to be huge for us in this game. I think everyone recognises the importance of this game, so get in nice and early, get in when the lads are warming up and making that atmosphere, making their presence known straight away.

"Early on when the lads are out there warming up, create the atmosphere. It needs to be like last year, like the Watford game, like the Sunderland game in the semi-final. It needs to be bouncing and even if we’re not performing it needs to be bouncing to try and drag a performance out of the boys as well, because we are human beings, we're not going to be perfect, there will be mistakes, there'll be some difficult times in the game as well, when we’re going to need them more than ever.

"What they've been brilliant at this year is even when we’ve fallen behind in games, they’ve stuck with us and the lads have really responded as well. So over those difficult periods, they really fight for us, and they all know and it’s important, this will always be the case I’m here, but the team will always fight to the very, very end and we’re going to need each other. The lads are going to need the supporters and hopefully that will bring the best out of the players.”

Town’s followers will also need to gee up a squad that had their confidence knocked badly on Wednesday night, having let a 3-0 lead slip to lose out 4-3 against AFC Bournemouth. Despite the end result, Luton’s players were still given an excellent ovation from their travelling fans, striker Carlton Morris speaking about how the players appreciated the response they received at the Vitality Stadium.

Discussing the way in which the Hatters fans have stuck behind their players throughout their first season back at this highest level of English football in over 30 years, despite having seen 17 defeats from 28 matches, including nine on home soil, Edwards added: “They were trying to pick me up I think. We’ve got special, special supporters, they’re amazing and they’ve been through a lot. There’s been some difficult times this season, none of us like losing, I’m certainly not expecting the fans to like it either, but I think we’ve got such an understanding group of supporters, who of course are competitive and desperate for us to win and do well, but I think they’re very intelligent as well.

“They can see the players are giving everything, they’d have been frustrated and angry as we were the other night, because from that position that we were in, we should be taking something from the game but we didn’t. The fact that they were with us at the end shows just how special they are and we’re really going to need them more than ever, then it’s down to us to perform to keep the levels that high, but they’re a special group of fans.”