Saunders is keeping the faith ahead of second leg

The Red Dragons trail 3-0 from the first match at the Racecourse Ground on Thursday night as Hatters are clear favourites to progress into the play-off final at Eastlands.

But Saunders tried to remain upbeat as he said: “It’s simple - we need to get an early goal and put them under pressure.

“I was involved in a game against Turkey that ended up 6-4 to Turkey, so it is not impossible, especially if Luton think they got a foot in the door to the final.

“We have to stay positive on two fronts – firstly we cannot play that badly again and secondly Luton could have scored more and the tie could have been beyond us totally.

“Everyone is disappointed because we felt we should be going to Luton with at least a draw, but that is football, these things happen and it is how you handle the big games.

“Strange things happen when the pressure is on you but we have still got a chance. We just need to go and try and turn the game around.

“We are 3-0 down and it is half-time, so if we can score first that will put us back in it. We have got to go into the game with a positive attitude.

“So we will give everything we’ve got and hope for a bit of luck on the way.”

Due to the financial uncertainty at the Racecourse, Wrexham have not checked in for an overnight stay, but will travel down this morning, while also cooking their pre-match match meal onboard in a bid to save around £350.

Saunders added: “The only stop we will be making is at service station for the players to walk around and loosen their legs a bit.

“Then we will go to the game, that’s the way it is at the moment. We can only afford what we can afford.

“Hopefully next season all the financial problems will be sorted out and we have a tidy playing budget, because at the moment we have the ninth highest playing budget yet we’re in the play-offs.

“You can’t ask anymore of the players really.”