Hatters duo are still out as Trollope wants a 'Luton performance' at Nottingham Forest

Hatters will still be without Alfie Doughty and Reece Burke for this afternoon’s FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest as Town caretaker boss Paul Trollope praised the players for the manner in which they have handled the departure of manager Rob Edwards this week.

The duo have been missing with ankle ligament and quad injuries, with Doughty tipped to return for the QPR game on Monday night, a match that turned out to be Rob Edwards’ final game in charge, as he departed by mutual consent on Thursday. However, he didn’t make the match-day squad in West London and along with Burke won’t be available for the trip to the City Ground, as Trollope, who will take the game along with Richie Kyle and Mick Harford, said: “He’s (Doughty) still not ready, so he’ll be assessed next week. I think he is close now, he’s not made this game, but he won’t be too long. Reece is still out, he’s got quite a bit of time to go on his rehabilitation."

Asked if it has been difficult lifting the players for today’s contest after news that the hugely popular Edwards had left was communicated to them, the former Bristol Rovers manager continued: “It’s obviously an issue as yesterday (Thursday), myself, Richie and Mick came in and addressed the group in moving forward. The other bit had been done and we had to turn our focus, pay our respects, a couple of home truths about responsibility and the situation we’re in, which needed to be done and then we’ve got a chance to show people, got a chance to put things right a little bit in the short term.

"How we can change small margins that have been going against us into our favour if you like, so it’s always difficult, but we always find once we get out on the grass things change. The players are playing football again, we’re coaching football again. The meetings were difficult, yesterday’s session was naturally a little bit flat so we adjusted it because of that, but today we felt we got the group where we wanted it. It was lively, it was bright, I think we got the tactical stuff we needed to work on into them, but there’s obviously been a little period of mourning if you like.

“The leader’s changed, the leader’s gone, but life moves on and the group have been excellent. I think they were really respectful yesterday with feedback that was discussed but today they realised that we’re ready. It’s a big game, it’s an FA Cup game, it’s an exciting game for the football club. We’re going to take a lot of supporters up there, it’s our duty to move on, prepare really well and make sure we give a performance and hopefully a result that the supporters will be proud of.”

Although Forest are flying amazingly high in the Premier League this season, sitting in third place, level on points with Arsenal after an absolutely superb time of it, winning their last six matches, December’s Manager of the Month winner Nuno Espírito Santo make changes for the clash as they start to consider the genuine possibility of turning last year's battle with the Hatters to stay up into a possible quest for European football.

Asked if he could follow suit and alter things, Trollope continued: “It’s the next game, Richie, myself and Mick, our remit was two days training and a game , so we’ve looked at previous games, looked at who’s available and picked the strongest possible team for the game to try and get that performance that we’re after.

“It’s a big test, they’ve got Liverpool on Tuesday night so whether they rotate a few as Premier League teams do in the FA Cup, time will tell, whether it’s quite a few or one or two. In terms of preparation that’s been a wee bit difficult with individuals, trying to guess what team they’re going to play, but we’ve worked on their principles of play and how they do things.

"It’s a big challenge, even their bench and their squad is full of huge talent. We know we’re going to have to be good defensively, put in a good balanced performance of trying to impose ourselves, take the ball, be a threat and show some forward action, some real forward intent when we can. That means making sure we take the ball and keep the ball and be able to build and then we’ve looked at ways to try and hurt them. We’re looking for a really good, balanced performance, but keeping that aggression and keeping what Luton Town’s about.

“We’re going in with a lot of respect for Forest and where they are, but we want to put in a performance the supporters are going to be proud of. There’ll be subtle differences, but lots of the elements of the QPR game we were pleased with. Some of the details not so much, goals against, but sometimes you have to look a little bit more globally at the performance, and where we thought that was and there were some real positives from that, a few players coming in, performing to a really good level.

"So you’ll probably see subtle differences, but a lot of the similar things in terms of that aggression and where we want the team to be. We want to embrace the challenge, we want to come out fighting. It is a tough game, they are flying high in the Premier League, but we want to put on a Luton performance that’s full of spirit, full of fight. We are in a moment of adversity as a team, as a staff, as a football club, so we come out fighting and try and impose our game on them. Embrace the tough game that it is and try and come out with a positive performance and a positive result.”