Jamaican international looking to make it third time lucky as he prepares for the biggest game of his life with Luton

Luton defender Amari’i Bell believes it is going to be third time lucky as he prepares for what will be the biggest game of his life when facing Sunderland at Kenilworth Road in the second leg of the Championship play-offs this evening

Last season the 29-year-old was part of a Hatters side who were harshly defeated 2-1 on aggregate by Huddersfield Town as they had their dreams of reaching the top flight ended with a 1-0 second leg loss at the John Smith's Stadium.

The Jamaican international’s other experience of having his season extended also ended in misery, as back in the 2016-17 campaign, he reached the League One play-offs with Fleetwood Town, only to go out 1-0 over the two legs against Bradford City.

He is now expected to be named in a Town XI who are aiming to overturn a 2-1 deficit against the Black Cats this evening, as they paid the price for a poor second half display at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

With that in mind, Bell said: “I’ve been beaten twice, but you know what they say, third time lucky, so that’s what I’m telling myself.

“I think it’s the biggest game of most of our lives, we just want to go out there and give our all and after 90 minutes see where we come.

“Everyone’s excited, everyone’s looking forward to the challenge and just relishing this position that we’ve put ourselves in.

"The other night wasn’t a great result for us, but it's a game of two ties and it becomes a positive."

It’s not just Bell who is looking to enjoy a first play-off victory but the Hatters as well, as they have never gone through the end of season lottery in their past six attempts, defeated each and every time.

That stat was news to the centre half though, as he continued: “I didn’t actually know that, but there’s no better time to change your fortune.

"It definitely feels different to last year.

"Last year we lost, but I think we’re more experienced now and we have to use that experience in this game.

“We knew that whatever happened in the first game, whether it’s a win, draw, loss, there’s still a second tie to play.

"You can’t really look at the first one and think it’s all over, we just need to be positive and we’ll be fine."

Although Luton will go into the match having seen their 14-game unbeaten run ended by the Black Cats, the 2-1 scoreline their first reverse since February 28, Bell revealed spirits hadn’t been affected by the result.

He said: “No, not at all, everyone’s still confident.

"We know what we’ve got and we know that especially in the second half we didn’t show how we normally perform.

"We know we’ve got a lot more to come, so everyone’s got to be very positive.

“The last loss was a long time ago and we forgot what it’s like to lose.

"It’s not something we’re used to, but we know that we have to bounce back and normally when that happens, we do, so it’s going to be a good tie.”

Once Elijah Adebayo had put the visitors ahead on Wearside, it had looked like Luton would go on to take an advantage into the second leg tie this evening.

However, Amad Diallo levelled just before the break, before what was a poor second 45 from the Hatters, culminating in Trai Hume’s winner.

Bell wasn’t quite sure what happened to Town's performance levels after the break, but was pleased that despite not being anywhere near their best, they still held relatively firm at the back, as bar the goal, keeper Ethan Horvath was barely tested.

He added: “If you look at the first half compared to the second, you can see the difference in performance.

"We weren’t at it in the second, we know we can do a lot better, so we just have to give the same performance we did from the first and we’ll be fine.

“I don’t think they surprised us at all, we know what their strengths were and I just think for some reason, something changed.

"I can't really put my finger on that, but we’re going to do a lot better and try to take better care of their threats.

“That’s the good thing, we weren’t at it in the second half and they still didn’t do much against us.

"That’s one of the big positives we were thinking and if we’re right at it then the sky’s the limit.

"We know that we have to bounce back from Saturday and win every game to progress.”