PREVIEW: Luton Town v Welling United

The Wings had set the record for number of consecutive wins during their return to the top tier of non-league football after 13 years away as they clinched the Conference South title.

Jamie Day’s side couldn’t have been handed much of a tougher start too, losing at Wrexham on the opening day, before picking up a highly creditable 2-2 draw with Cambridge at home.

Welling then earned an impressive scalp, beating Grimsby 1-0 and a 4-2 triumph t Woking, plus a 0-0 draw with Salisbury left them with two wins, two draws and just that one defeat from their opening five games.

Back to back defeats were to follow as Welling went four games without a victory, but they recovered in style, battering Forest Green 5-2 at home, before wins over Woking and Aldershot to take nine points from nine.

They have shown the very nature of how tight the league is though too as after sitting just outside of the play-offs when beating Town 2-1 in the FA Cup earlier this month, have dropped to 12th place, taking one point from their last two games.

They do however remain just two points off the top five and could well return should they come away from Kenilworth Road with a triumph.

An impressive record at Park View Road has been matched with a decent run on their travels as Welling have won three, drawn two and lost four so far.

The Wings’ form in the league is seeing their players rewarded too as defender Fraser Franks wore the captain’s armband for England C in their 2-2 draw with Czech Republic in the week, as he also scored for the Three Lions.

Meanwhile, Jake Gallagher has joined Kurtis Guthrie to play for the FA X1 vs the Royal Engineers at Maidstone on Monday. The squad has selected by England C boss Paul Fairclough, who will also manage the team on the night.

Team news: Welling midfielder Loick Pires will be absent after sustaining a bad injury last Saturday and Doug Bergqvist looks likely to be sidelined for another two or three weeks.

Boss Day will be hoping that Harry Beautyman and Jack Obersteller will be able to return though.

For Town, midfielder Jonathan Smith is suspended for the clash after picking up his fifth booking of the season at Chester.

Danny Fitzsimons and Jon Shaw are out, while Anthony Charles is a doubt too.

Top Skrill scorer - Wings: Ross Lafayette (7). Hatters: Andre Gray (7).

Man in the middle: Brett Huxtable - has shown 28 yellows in his nine games so far this season, although is yet to send anyone off.

Taken Luton twice this term, with both games ending in a stalemate, as Hatters drew 0-0 at Hereford and Forest Green, but is yet to officiate Welling.

Displayed 43 yellows in 19 games last season with two reds, and took the 3-1 win for Luton at home to Southport in the league.

In charge: Jamie Day - 34-year-old, who is currently the player manager for Welling United.

Was at Arsenal as a trainee making the subs bench for the first team, before being sold to Bournemouth for £20,000.

From the Cherries, he went to Dover Athletic, Welling, Grays and Dartford, back to Grays, before being announced as the boss of Welling in November 2009.

Guided the club to the Conference South title in 2013, promoting the club to the highest tier in non-league football.

Average home crowd: Luton: 6,452. Welling: 811.

One to watch: Lee Butcher - 25-year-old goalkeeper produced an inspired display during Town’s 2-1 defeat at Welling in the FA Cup earlier this month, virtually single-handedly keeping his side in the tie.

Butcher has been an ever present for the Wings this season, after joining on a free transfer in the summer.

Had started his career at Premier League Tottenham Hotspur and then moved to Grays Athletc, before a three year spell at Leyton Orient until he was released.

Last time out: Hatters have only ever played Welling at home once in their history, that an FA Trophy tie back in December 2010 when the game at Kenilworth Road ended in a goalless stalemate.

In their history though, Town have come across the Wings three times, with one win, one draw and one defeat so far.

Hatters: Mark Tyler, Ed Asafu-Adjaye, Craig Hinton, Alex Lacey, Jake Howells, Alex Lawless, Pavel Besta (JJ O’Donnell 60), Godfrey Poku, Dan Walker, Jason Walker, Taiwo Atieno.

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