O'Neil declares his Wolves side 'need' to be getting a result at Luton

Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Gary O’Neil believes his team ‘need’ to be getting a result when they come up against Luton at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The visitors, like Town, have had a tough start to their Premier League campaign, garnering just three points from five matches to date, which include defeats to Manchester United, Brighton and Liverpool.

They now take on a Hatters side who, despite improving game by game, are sitting at the bottom of the table with four losses from four so far.

With that in mind, O’Neil, who was appointed just days before the season began in place of Julen Lopetegui, highlighted the importance of picking up points against a team tipped by many as firm favourites for relegation.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “We feel they are a team that we can have a really good go against.

“There are certain games in this league – and we’ve had a few of them already, Manchester United away, Liverpool at home and even Brighton the way they’re going – that you know you need to be at your very best and you need everything to go your way to be successful on those days.

“We’ve had some tough fixtures, and Luton away is of course a tough fixture, but with our group of players and what we have available, we know we need to be going there and getting a result.

"It’s a game that we can go and get a result from, as was Everton and as was Crystal Palace.”

O’Neil knows it won’t be easy for his side when heading to Bedfordshire though, where his players will face something completely unlike what they have become accustomed to in the top flight, both on the pitch and in the stands.

He continued: “They’re (Luton) very good at how they choose to play, they’re very direct, generally a front two who are a handful.

"They go front to back very quickly, are a threat from set-plays, and Luton itself, the stadium and the feel of the place is different to most that you face in the Premier League.

“The atmosphere and the feel of the game will be something that the players need to cope with as well and they’re well prepped for and understand.

"The lads know what Luton are going to pose for us and the best way to come out on top.”

The visitors don’t have any real injury concerns for the contest either, despite making a number of alterations to their preparation since O’Neil, who was harshly sacked by Bournemouth in the summer despite keeping the Cherries up, took over from the departing Lopetegui

He added: “Everyone’s good, which is obviously important because we’ve changed the training structure.

“When you do that sometimes you can pick up some injuries and niggles during that changeover spell and nothing’s happened yet, so the boys are in a good spot.

“‘Hodgy’ (Joe Hodge) will be back in and around it and has been training for the last few days, which is positive, and the rest of the players seem fine.

“I don’t know about the length or duration, but the intensity is definitely higher and having looked at the numbers they were producing before I got here to what we’re doing now, training is a bit more intense than it was.

"We just do things slightly differently to how they were doing them, so there’s an adaptation that needed to take place and hopefully we’ll start to see the effect of that fitness-wise.”