Hatters striker Hylton would trade his FA Cup golden boot award and day out at Wembley for Luton to cause an upset against Chelsea

Town forward finished as the top scorer back in 2013
Danny Hylton celebrates scoring for Aldershot at Middlesbrough in 2013Danny Hylton celebrates scoring for Aldershot at Middlesbrough in 2013
Danny Hylton celebrates scoring for Aldershot at Middlesbrough in 2013

Hatters striker Danny Hylton would trade his award as finishing as the top scorer in the 2012-13 FA Cup to cause one of the biggest upsets in Luton's history by beating Chelsea in the fifth round tomorrow night.

Some nine years ago now, Hylton scored a total of eight times in the competition when at Aldershot which was enough to see him win the golden boot and earn a day out at the final, watching Wigan Athletic defeat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley.

The forward had begun by netting twice in the 2-1 first round win over Hendon, then bagging another brace as Fleetwood were knocked out 3-2.

He bagged a hat-trick against his former side Rotherham in round three, notching an eighth when the Shots were finally knocked out 2-1 by Middlesbrough in round four.

However, with Luton playing host to a Blues team who are the World Club Cup champions and Champions League holders tomorrow night, Hylton said: “It was nice to finish as top goalscorer, I got a day out at the cup final back in 2013.

“I’ll trade all of that to beat Chelsea on Wednesday night and progress to the sixth round.”

Since signing for Luton, Hylton has managed another five goals in the competition, making it 13 in 31 appearances in total.

His most famous strike for Town was at St James’ Park back in January 2018, when the Hatters travelled to Premier League Newcastle for their third round tie, cheered on by over 7,500 fans.

Trailing 3-0 at the break, Luton then mustered a superb effort in the second period, Hylton getting the ball rolling when on target just four minutes in.

He did find the net again shortly afterwards, only to see it controversially ruled out for offside as Town’s brave efforts ended in vain, knocked out 3-1.

Looking back, Hylton said: “It would’ve been nicer to win the game that day.

"If a few decisions went our way, it could’ve been a different game.

"Newcastle were in the Premier League so it was always going to be tough, but we’ve grown and progressed since them.

“We’re better now, so let’s look forward to Wednesday night and see how well we can do.”

Looking at Wednesday, the Hatters take on a Chelsea side they met in the fourth round last season, although Hylton himself wasn’t part of the side that day due to injury.

If he is to continue his impressive goalscoring record in the FA Cup against the Blues, the forward knows Town need to keep a tight base first, after conceding twice to Tammy Abraham within the opening 18 minutes, falling to what was eventually a 3-1 reverse.

He said: “We’re going to respect them and try to get amongst them but, of course, you’ve got to keep it tight.

"If you give Chelsea an early goal, they can go and kill you.

"They can get goals, so you have to keep it tight and be careful.

“We’ll do that and try to carry it out to the best that we can.”

Harking back to before his days at Aldershot, a side he signed for in 2005, snapped up by former AFC Wimbledon boss Terry Brown, Hylton had been far more interested in playing the game rather than watching it, admitting he couldn't sit still long enough to take in a whole 90-minute fixture.

He added: “I grew up an Arsenal fan, I grew up in Camden and the centre of London.

"I used to just run around in the estates and play on concrete pitches, that was about as good as it got for me.

“I used to love Thierry Henry, unfortunately, I was never blessed with his pace or ability.

“I never used to watch football games as a kid though, I used to watch Match of the Day.

“Actually, no lie, do you remember The Championship which used to be on Saturday night?

"I enjoyed watching that more than the Premier League, that’s the truth, I used to love it.

“I don’t think I had the attention span to watch an hour and half game, so I just used to watch Match of the Day.

"It was a lot easier to concentrate for that period of time.”