Luton boss thanks Town fans for staying with him and his players during Tigers victory

​Hatters boss Rob Edwards was happy to see the Kenilworth Road crowd show their support to both him and his players following the 1-0 victory over Hull City on Saturday.

​Prior to the contest, the Town chief had called on the club’s fans to ‘come together’ to help give their side the best chance of getting through what has been a difficult start to the Championship campaign, especially away from home, with four straight defeats. Following a game in which Mark McGuinness’s first half header ensured the three points remained in Bedfordshire, Edwards, who had been jeered after the 5-1 loss at Middlesbrough, was afforded an excellent ovation prior to kick-off.

He was then able to applaud all sides of the ground afterwards, the smile on his face finally returning, with his name sung once more by those in the stands. On the reception he received, the former Welsh international said: “It was nice. No matter what happens, going forward or forever, I’ll always love this club and the supporters and that will never change. It was great to see they were all with us as well and that’s what we’re going to need.

"I always say thank you, it’s no different to normal. It’s not about me this now, it’s about us and we’re all in this. We’re in this position and we’ve got to keep fighting. The fans I know will be with me and with everyone if they can see the group are giving everything for the club, for the badge and winning. Fans just want to see their team do well and win, that’s all. I understand it and we haven’t been consistent, we’ve got to find some consistency now.”

Although Town came out as the victors on the day, they weren’t without their scares during the contest, as after McGuinness’s strike went in with 33 minutes gone, they didn’t test Tigers keeper Ivor Pandur afterwards. City didn’t challenge Thomas Kaminski for the opening 75 minutes either, although that was mainly down to not having their shooting boots on, Joao Pedro heading badly wide and then sidefooting against the post.

Late on, the Belgium international saved brilliantly from Kasey Palmer’s deflected attempt, with Chris Bedia also volleying wide from a couple of yards out, as Edwards praised the manner in which his team dug in, continuing: “I think basics always serve you well, being brilliant at basics. We weren’t brilliant at our basics today but showing that fight, that desire, if you haven’t got that you’ve got no chance.

"I don’t think we’ve ever lost that, but what things have done, things have knocked us and when we’ve been hit and knocked down, we haven’t necessarily been able to get back up, which we’ve always done well in the past. We didn’t concede but I’m a little bit intrigued if we had have done, how we would have reacted. And that’s an area we’ve got to keep working on as well as we’re going to get knocks, we’re going to concede goals, we’ve got to react in the right way.

"If we can start with that then it gives us a good platform and a basis to try and build more consistency. Hopefully more results and then more confidence comes off the back of that as well. You can’t guarantee a result but we can guarantee that we’re going to fight, put bodies on the line and run hard for each other and not let our heads drop ever, we can guarantee that, that’s all up there (in the head).”

With Town now having won two of their last three matches by a single goal, it echoed some of Luton’s victories when they reached the top flight during Edwards’ first season in charge, as the boss believes it showed that all his players are up for the battle of getting out of the predicament they are currently in, adding: “It reminded me a little of the performances from a couple of years ago when we got promoted.

"Blocks there, saves, a one-nil win, we had a lot of them. It’s a nice step for us at the moment, it’s important, but it shows that no-one’s giving up, everyone’s with it, everyone’s fighting. We had a tough day a couple of weeks ago, but before that, we won the game before that, so two wins in three, let’s look at it that way.”