It's business as usual for Hatters chief as he prepares to take on 'special' former side Wolves

Luton boss Rob Edwards declared it will be business as usual for him on a personal level when going up against a ‘special club’ in Wolverhampton Wanderers this afternoon.

The Hatters chief came through the ranks at Aston Villa as a youngster in 1999, making nine senior appearances, before going on to sign for Wolves in 2004, after they shelled out £150,000 to secure his services.

He went on to play 111 times during his four years, featuring under the likes of Glenn Hoddle and Mick McCarthy, as he then moved to Blackpool in August 2008.

After retiring at the age of 30, Edwards went back to Molineux as U18s coach, promoted to first team coach under Kenny Jackett, having one spell as interim head coach when Walter Zenga was sacked in October 2016.

Leaving to take over at AFC Telford, the former Wales international was back in the West Midlands as U23s head coach for just over a year, moving on again in October 2019 to take a role at the FA.

Now in the dug-out for the Hatters, after spells at Forest Green and Watford, on going up against his former side, Edwards said: “It’s a special club for me personally.

"Four years as a player and a long time then as a coach and in many different roles, so it’s a club that I know well.

"I still know a lot of people there and a lot of my best friends still now that I have today are from my time there as well

"So it will be nice to see them, but it’s business, that’s what it is.”

Wolves were thrown into turmoil before the season began, as manager Julen Lopetegui left just days before the campaign started, former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil swiftly appointed as his replacement.

Although results haven’t been great so far, one win and four defeats, Edwards has been impressed with the manner in which the side are playing under the ex-Middlesbrough, West Ham and QPR midfielder, as he continued: “Gary was a better player than me so I didn’t come up against him very much.

"He’s made a good start there, I like the way they’re playing.

"It’s probably rightfully so, to be saying they’ve not got the points they deserve from their performances so far.

"He’s made a really positive start to life there and of course after the game I wish him well, I hope he does really, really well there."

Not only did Wolves lose their manager ahead of the season, but they have also seen a number of high profile players move on in the summer, Ruben Neves starting the exodus by going to Saudi Arabia club Al-Hilal for £47m.

Defensive duo Connor Coady and Nathan Collins joined Leicester and Brentford respectively for a combined £30m, with striker Raul Jimenez moving on to Fulham.

Despite their best efforts to keep him, Portugal international Matheus Nunes also departed on transfer deadline day, heading to Premier League champions Manchester City for £53m, although Wolves have been able to strengthen, none more so than by paying £44m to turn the loan of Brazilian international Matheus Cunha into a permanent deal.

They also splashed out just under £30m to bring in Boubacar Traore, Enso Gonzalez and Santiago Bueno, while still having another Portuguese star in Pedro Neto at the club, plus the talented duo of Hee-Chan Hwang and Fabio Silva, along with Manchester City loanee Tommy Doyle.

Edwards said: “They’ve still got some Brazilian and Portuguese internationals, so yes, they did lose some players, some big players, personalities as well, but they’ve got some talent.

"We saw that in pre-season when we played them as well, it was good to go up against them then as they've got some really good individuals and Gary’s got them playing in a really good way.

"They've got really good technique, but some speed and some transition as well.

"The goal they scored against Liverpool last week was amazing really, so we know their threats.

"We know they’re going to have the ball at times and we’ve got to be resilient and strong, but we feel if we do things right and do the basics right, we can hurt them and get at them as well.

"I think it makes for a very, very good game.”

This afternoon’s contest will be the second time that Luton have gone up against their opponents in the last two months, having played out a 0-0 pre-season friendly draw at Molineux in early August.

On whether Edwards gleaned anything from the contest, he added; “Not really, a different manager, we learnt a little bit about the individuals and the players, so we can take a little bit from that.

"But since Gary’s come in, he’s done really well to put his stamp on things.

"We can have a look back at that game, but we’d rather look at the games that Gary’s been in charge for.”