Hatters chief felt 'errors of judgement' saw Luton captain Lockyer sent off against Burnley

Hatters boss Rob Edwards conceded that Luton skipper Tom Lockyer made some ‘errors of judgement’ when being sent off during yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley at Kenilworth Road.

The centre half was part of a Town defence who were excelling in moving to just 12 minutes away from becoming the first team to stop the Clarets scoring in the league since August 12, 2022, some 28 games ago.

However, they were caught out by a free kick which saw substitute Vitinho loft the ball over Lockyer and then flick it against Gabe Osho’s arm for a spotkick awarded by referee Jeremy Simpson.

Clearly incensed by the decision from an official, who was admittedly having a poor game, Lockyer talked his way into a yellow card in the aftermath of the decision.

Ashley Barnes easily beat Ethan Horvath, who was facing his third penalty in three matches, from the spot, as before the contest could resume, an irate Lockyer continued his rant at the referee and was booked again, meaning he received his marching orders.

It meant Town had to try and rescue a point with 10 men, something they weren’t able to do, and with Lockyer now out of next weekend’s trip to Birmingham City, Edwards said: “The game was high emotion out there, both teams desperate to win, a big game for both teams and the game is emotional.

"Maybe he’s made a couple of errors in judgement, but he has been fantastic for us since we’ve come through the door, he was amazing as well today.

"So we’re going to miss him now for a game, but when we went down to 10 men, we were excellent again.”

When asked about the referee’s performance, Edwards added: “There were one or two questionable decisions, but then you have to deal with whatever moment you’re in and try not to let it get the best of you, as having 11 men on the pitch you’ve got a bit of a better chance.

“It was an interesting game, the game was quite quick and frantic and we tried not to allow Burnley to have any control.

“That’s how it looked, there was a lot of turnovers, the game was end-to-end.

"You’re going to get a lot of challenges and things going on and decisions to make.”