Town keeper highlights the belief instilled by Edwards that Luton can do 'something special' and win promotion

Town keeper James Shea has spoken about the belief Luton possess under manager Rob Edwards that they achieve ‘something special’ and become a Premier League club at the end of the season.

The Hatters have every chance of doing that either automatically, trailing second placed Sheffield United by six points with eight games to go, although Middlesbrough will no doubt have something to say about that, or through the play-offs, as they sit fourth in the table, with a seven point lead over Norwich City in seventh.

Edwards took over a squad that previous boss Nathan Jones navigated to a play-off place last season, and had strengthened in the summer, but were not quite getting things right at home this term, too many draws leaving them in mid-table when the Welshman left for what proved a short-term stint at top flight Southampton.

However, the arrival of the former Forest Green and Watford boss has seen Luton hit some real form, with 10 wins from 17 league games propelling them into the top six.

Speaking to the players recently, there is a genuine feeling that promotion is a more than realistic ambition, and Shea was no different in his views, saying: “I know we had it there before, but there’s a real belief that we can do something special this year.

"He (Edwards) tells us it every single day, he reiterates his points every single day and at the minute, it’s just a great place to be.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could get second.

"If we can, fantastic, but if we can’t, the next best thing is the play-offs.

"We were there last year, we had the heartache to push us on again, so hopefully we can go two steps further.”

Shea, who is one of the longest-serving players at the club, having signed in 2017, featured under Jones in both his spells as manager.

He knows a move to St Mary’s was something his former boss was unable to turn down, but believes Luton’s hierarchy couldn’t have picked a better replacement to succeed him, as he continued: “I think he’s (Edwards) been brilliant.

"He came on in the first day and he said to the lads, ‘listen I’m not going to come in here and change everything, whatever you’re doing is working.’

"But he’s come in, added his stamp on it, and it’s just working for us at the minute.

"I think him, Richie (Kyle) and all three of them (Paul Trollope) have been absolutely brilliant.

"It was a shame the old gaffer left, you can’t blame him for what’s happened, but they’ve bought the right people in, as they always do, and it’s been brilliant from day one.”

The one major issue that prevented Town from reaching the top light last term was injuries as during their play-off semi-final against Huddersfield Town, it was a case of whoever was fit, started, top scorer Elijah Adebayo restricted to the final minutes of the second leg, barely able to move, as Luton lost out 2-1 on aggregate.

It is different this time though, as although the Hatters are without Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Luke Freeman and Dan Potts for this afternoon’s derby against Town’s fiercest rivals Watford, all three are expected to feature during the run-in.

Shea said: “You just don’t want to jinx yourself in case next week we have 10 injuries, but last season I’ve never seen anything like it.

"The physio room was A&E basically!

"It was unbelievable and to do what we did was still a great achievement.

"We've had a meeting and I think everyone’s back, pretty much everyone is fit now.

"It’s a hard place for the gaffer to be in as he’s got some tough decisions to make and I’m glad I don’t have that decision to make.

"But we are in a lot better place this year than we were last year on the injury front.”

The keeper felt his side could have been in an even better position in the table going into this afternoon’s mouth-watering clash with their oldest foes, denied three points at Sunderland before the international break after a controversial late penalty saw the Black Cats grab a 1-1 draw.

Shea added: “It’s a shame as going back to last week, we felt we were robbed of two points a little bit and then we’re sitting here four points behind Sheffield United and you’re thinking, ‘we’ve got a real good chance!’

"Don’t get me wrong, we still do, but it’s just a shame what happened last week as we thoroughly deserved it.

"We were comfortable and that one decision changed everything, as we could have gone from winning the game to losing the game easily.”