Town defender Lockyer ready to 'thrive' in front of 45,000 at the Stadium of Light

Hatters defender Tom Lockyer wants his team-mates to ‘thrive’ when running out in the cauldron of noise that will be the Stadium of Light at 5.30pm tomorrow, with over 45,000 in attendance for the first leg of Luton’s Championship play-off semi-final against Sunderland.

With the game already announced as a sell-out, the Black Cats confirming that 45,383 are expected to take their place inside the ground, with 2,000 of them supporting the visitors, it will be the highest crowd Town have played in front of in a fixture not held at Wembley since 2018, when they lost 3-1 at Newcastle United in the FA Cup, the gate totted up as 47,069.

For what is classed as a league game, you have to go back even further for a bigger audience, when Everton were the opponents once again, Luton triumphing 1-0 at Goodison Park in Division One back in September 1955 thanks to a Peter MacEwan goal in front of 44,237.

Although it won’t be a fixture for the faint-hearted, for Lockyer himself, it is an occasion he can’t wait to be involved in, as asked just what it will be like to be out there on the pitch, he said: “Enjoyable! I think you’ve got to thrive in the occasion otherwise it will pass you by.

"I’ve always enjoyed the bigger games and the bigger atmospheres, going to the lesser grounds and the lesser teams can be not as fun sometimes.

"The bigger games are what everyone looks forward to, but I think it’s one you have to thrive in or it might pass you by.

“It’s one to be enjoyed isn’t it, it will be amazing.

"We’ll have to handle the occasion, maybe whoever handles it better will come out better on the day, but it‘s one to look forward to.

"These games don’t come around often in a player’s career, so to be involved in this type of game is one you look forward to and one you’re going to remember at the end of your career.”

Luton’s players have been used to performing on the big occasion though this term, compiling a terrific 12-game unbeaten run away from home, their last defeat coming in Rob Edwards’ first game in charge, that a 2-1 reverse at Middlesbrough on December 10.

Since then Town have triumphed in front of 28,406 at Bramall Lane when beating Sheffield United 1-0, but although the aim for the Hatters will be to quieten the crowd early on, Lockyer knows that might not be as easy as it sounds.

He continued: “I think that will take some doing.

"The game’s on at half five and I think they’ll be in the boozer from nine or whatever!

"Like you’ve seen in the last game, one ref’s decision and a bit of magic from them can spark everyone back up again, so it’s going to be a tricky one for sure.

“That’s when you need calm heads sometimes.

"We’ve got a good experience in the squad now, a mixture of youth and experience, so hopefully that helps, but with the play-offs, you never really know until you get in the moment.

"We’re trying to prepare as best we can, but ultimately play-off games are different to regular games, so it might be who handles it best on the day.”

When Luton went to Sunderland back in March, 37,579 supporters were at the game, but with Luton coping impressively and leading through Alfie Doughty's goal, it wasn’t until late on when Amad Diallo won a controversial penalty, that the stadium really showed its true colours, coming to life in the closing stages.

It saw Town having to cling on for their lives to come back with a point, but going through that experience could be a benefit to Town in the first leg, as Lockyer added: “Like you’ve seen at their place, they had that penalty late on, which was never in a million years a penalty, everyone knows that, we’ve had the apology from the referee at the time.

"Before that, we were comfy and then after that we were backs against the wall and quite lucky to get away with just a point.

"That’s football for you, moments change games and hopefully we can handle the occasion better than the opposition and that will put us in good stead.

“I think the 10-15 minutes after the penalty up there was probably what we can expect going forward now, so hopefully that helps us.

"I don't think you’ll know until we get out there and we see the fans, but that being said, if our away fans are anything to go by from last time as well, we can hear them all the way up in the heavens like we did last time, that will be fantastic as well.”