Hatters chief praises the 'amazing impact' made by Villa boss Unai Emery

Luton boss Rob Edwards hailed the stunning impact that opposite number Unai Emery has made since being appointed as Aston Villa manager a year ago this week

The 51-year-old took over a club who were 14th in the Premier League, three points above the relegation zone, following a disastrous spell under Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, as he led them to seventh place by the end of the season, securing European football for the first time in 13 years.

With Emery at the helm the club have carried that form on this season too, up to fifth already, and flying in the Europa League too, a competition that he has won four times in his career, three with Sevilla and once when at Villarreal.

On the Spaniard, who has won 25 out of his 43 matches so far, also leading Paris-Saint Germain to a Ligue 1 title and managing both Arsenal and Valencia, Edwards said: “He’s had an amazing impact in a year, an incredible impact.

“Averaging two points a game, in Europe, they’re scoring goals for fun, the crowd are with him, incredible manager.

"He’s won four European trophies, not bad is it?

"He’s top, so you’d expect that, he’s had a real impact, I’ve got a lot of respect for him, a lot of time for him for what he’s done, an amazing job.”

Edwards can also see a close theme between what is happening in the Midlands to goings on at the south coast, comparing Villa to a Brighton side that Luton lost 4-1 against on the opening day of the season.

He continued: “There’s similarities to what they’re doing at the moment now and Brighton.

"They might wait on the ball a little bit and try to coax you on to them to try and create some spaces to play behind.

“They’ve got a bit of everything, like Brighton have, they can play through you, can play round or over you with the speed that they’ve got as well.

"People that are good at one v ones, there’s similarities, but what they’ve got is a real clear way of playing.

"It’s not always the same, but you know if you press with a certain number what they're going to do and if you do something else what they could do then and the spaces they’ll try to create.

"They'll look to try and control the game, they will have a lot more of the ball, we know that, we’ll have to be compact but we’ve got to be very, very good out of possession.

"We’re going to have to run really hard, have to be very good at our duels, have to be switched on, better than we were on Saturday (against Nottingham Forest) and then we have to be better on the ball as well.

"But they are a very complicated team to prepare for, we’ve had to think long and hard about the right way to go about it.

"I think we’ve shown a lot of adaptability and we’ve been able to change a lot in all the games so far.

"We've had different shapes, we've pressed high, been low, we've been mid and we’ll look to try and have a good plan where we think this is the right way to go to get a result.”

Although Town lost that opening day contest 4-1 at the Amex, also beaten by both Chelsea and Fulham on the road, their recent results away from Kenilworth Road have been good, unbeaten in two, defeating Everton 2-1 and then drawing 2-2 at Nottingham Forest.

Edwards didn’t think there had been a huge difference between his side’s displays wherever they have played though, saying: “If people have been watching our home games then we should have taken more points.

"The performances in general have been good at home, we’ve just got more points away, it’s just how it’s worked at the moment.

"It would be nice if we get some wins going at home, but however they come they’ll take them.”

Whatever kind of game Luton find themselves facing this afternoon, Edwards backed his players to cope with whatever is thrown at them, adding: “This year every game gives us a completely different tactical challenge, and there is a big difference between home and away as well.

"So we’re having to adapt a lot more, more than I probably anticipated we would have to, but that’s good, that’s making me better and the players better as well.

"They’re really coachable, they're able to take on information, and they understand, as I’ll speak to them and ask them their thoughts on stuff as well.”