Town defender Pearson targets an improvement against Stoke

Town defender Matty Pearson feels that his side will be well aware of the threats from Saturday’s opponents Stoke City with the two teams meet at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The Potters had the better of the fixtures last term, easily winning 3-0 at the Bet 365 Stadium and then drawing 1-1 in Bedfordshire, Hatters requiring a last-minute James Collins penalty to salvage a point.

Manager Michael O’Neill hasn’t made a huge number of signings during the summer, Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher, who is yet to score, and former Chelsea player John Obi Mikel from Trabzonspor, the main two, with James Chester turning his loan from Aston Villa into a permanent deal too.

With Luton sitting in fifth place going into the match, Pearson said: “We didn’t do that well against them last year.

"They’ve got similar players, we know what they’re about so it’s going to be a tough game, but every game is going to be a tough game.

"We know what league we’re in but we need to stick to our game-plan and I’m sure if we work on what we work on every day in training, we will get chances and it will come down to who takes their chances.

“They haven’t made too many signings but we know they have got quality individuals that can open up any team so we need to look at what they do, how they will play and see where we can hurt them.”

The game will be the fifth Championship clash this term without any supporters in attendance once more and on having to in front of empty stadiums on a regular basis now, Pearson said: “It’s not great, it’s flat, almost like a pre-season game.

“You know what it’s about at Luton, you get there and it’s a buzz, an atmosphere, we have none of that.

“We have to generate that ourselves and I think we’re getting to grips with it but sometimes when it’s not going right, we have to rally round.

"It’s not great and I can’t wait until it’s all over and we’re back to normal.

"I’m with everyone else, when you’re here working every day, we’re all striving for the club to play football but when you turn up on a Saturday and there is no-one there, it’s just not the same is it."

On how he manages to get up for the game personally, Pearson said: "Generally I just shout a lot!

"We need everyone being on it, everyone talking, when it goes quiet, that’s when it’s a problem.

"It's a bit slow, we need to create our own tempo and communicate with each other and get everyone going.

"You know what it’s like when we have a packed Kenilworth Road and we have a chance, everyone is behind us and it brings you on to do better things.

"That’s what we are missing at the minute but I’m sure the fans will be back soon. "