Soup-er charged Claude sends out an SOS

The mercurial Frenchman is going to send out an SOS to his mum for her special vegetable soup to inspire him for the play-offs.

Gnakpa, 27, said: “That’s what I said to her, I really need it to come.

“If I have the soup the goals will come more easily. Hopefully she comes in time for the play-offs.”

The experience of scoring the winning goal in front of over 40,000 jubilant Hatters fans at the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final has given Gnakpa the taste for more.

He said: “To see 40,000 Luton fans happy and enjoy the day is fantastic. We all want to have this feeling again. It would be fantastic to give them the play-off trophy.

“We saw many players like Kevin Nicholls lift the trophy many times and we all want to be in the history of the club and hopefully we can achieve it. The expectation is high. We all want to play big games and the atmosphere is fantastic.”

The winger knows it will be a tough ask to win promotion, but is determined to put last season’s disappointment behind him.

He added: “Hopefully we will get to Manchester and hopefully we can enjoy a big day and win the play-offs.

“We start this season with the aim to be promoted and that’s what we want to achieve. There’s no reason we can’t do it. We forget the disappointment (of last season) and go for happiness.”