Sky Sports pundit questions whether Luton's players have the 'drive' needed to stay up

Former Reading, West Ham and Leyton Orient midfielder turned Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff has questioned whether the Hatters’ squad possesses the ‘drive’ required to win their battle against relegation to League One this term.

Town’s season has panned out in a way that no-one at Kenilworth Road expected after Luton were tipped to be fighting at the top end of the table having kept a large number of the squad together who were gracing the Premier League at this stage last year. However, with just nine wins all season, but more importantly, 21 defeats from their 38 games, then it means going into this weekend’s international break, the Hatters are four points from safety with eight fixtures remaining.

Manager Matt Bloomfield, who took over from Rob Edwards in January, has arrested the slide in terms of results somewhat, as after failing to win in his first eight games, has now picked up seven points from 12, beating relegation rivals Portsmouth and Cardiff City, although did suffer a disappointing stalemate against Middlesbrough on Saturday, a game that Luton utterly dominated but failed to find the net.

With a number of the side’s in the bottom half of the table all picking up wins, it leaves Town’s hopes of staying in the Championship resting on a knife-edge, as speaking to the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast, McAnuff isn’t sure they will finish above the dotted line, saying: “Luton are the ones that all season I've been looking at thinking, right, at some point, they're going to put a little run together, they're going to get themselves clear. Every time they win a game you think right, this is it, this is the moment and then they don’t back it up.

"It's taken a little bit of time for Matt Bloomfield to get a grip on things and impose his way of doing things on the group. I think there have been some improvements, I think we're seeing a little bit more fight. When you're at that end of the the table, when you're a group of players who didn’t expect to be there, at this stage of the season, that can be a real challenge from a mentality perspective.

"My question with them is, is there enough in there? Enough drive in the group to say we've got to dig in, we've got the quality. They have got the quality. When you look at them versus some of the other teams that are down there, player for player, but have you got that will to dig in and battle and stick together? And I've got to be honest, I'm still not sure.”

When the Hatters return from their fortnight off, they face an absolutely massive game away at Hull City, the Tigers sitting six points above their visitors, as a second successive away triumph for Town would see Rubén Sellés’ side pulled right back into trouble once more. Fellow Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes that fixture, and the outcomes from the four that come afterwards, will determine Luton’s fate.

He said: “Luton are the ones, their next five games, Hull City, away, then Leeds United, then after that Stoke City, away, and Blackburn who are out of sorts, and then Derby away. So these next five games I think will define it for Luton. They need to pick some points up here as they’ve already got that little gap between them and fourth bottom.

“Then they’re going into the final three games against Bristol City, Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion and what they’re playing for and may still be when they’re playing Luton. So I think the next five games are pivotal. If I’m honest with you based on what I’ve seen so far I think it's hard to sell the situation where Luton survive, based on what I’ve seen.”