Under-fire Luton boss determined to fight on despite admitting R's loss has left him 'on the ropes'

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Town beaten for the 10th successive time away from home

​Under-fire Hatters boss Rob Edwards remains determined to fight on as Luton manager despite admitting he felt like was ‘on the ropes’ after yet another dismal away result at QPR last night.

​The Town chief saw his team beaten 2-1 at Loftus Road go down to what is now a 10th straight league defeat outside of Bedfordshire this term, as they are closing in on the 11 successive losses suffered when Graeme Jones was in charge of the Hatters back in the 2019-20 campaign. In fact they are just two short of the all-time record now, that happening almost 100 years ago when Town returned pointless from 12 matches in a row when they were plying their trade in Division Three South during the 1927-28 season.

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Despite the result seeing yet more supporters call for Edwards to leave, as they had done vociferously following the New Year’s Day reverse at home to Norwich City, he reiterated his desire to fight on, saying: “I want to work. We believe in this group, but this (leaving) is not something I want to do. I love this club, we've had great times here, this is a really difficult period and really challenging. We’re continuing to get hit, we’re on the ropes and getting hit after hit after hit, but no-one’s giving up, you can see that, the fight is there and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

Hatters boss Rob Edwards looks on during Monday night's 2-1 defeat to QPR - pic: Alex Pantling/Getty ImagesHatters boss Rob Edwards looks on during Monday night's 2-1 defeat to QPR - pic: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Hatters boss Rob Edwards looks on during Monday night's 2-1 defeat to QPR - pic: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

"I’m realistic, I know, results aren’t good enough but the lads are giving everything. The performance for big spells is there, but we’re falling on the wrong side of the line and I don't know what else to say. It’s really, really tough, it’s not good enough obviously, 10 defeats away from home, wow, but recently there’s been nothing in the game and we’ve fallen on the wrong side of it."

Although the Hatters fell short in West London, Edwards felt it had been a positive display from his side, who had looked the better teams at times, particularly the start of the second half when they were definitely on top for the opening 15 minutes. That ended when Morgan Fox luckily deflected in Ilias Chair’s long-range strike though, as Town couldn’t equalise, Mark McGuinness missing a glorious opportunity to do so in stoppage time.

The boss continued: “I was pleased with that, again personnel can help you change the way you play. We’re in a results business and again it’s a very similar story to what we’ve had in recent weeks, a really narrow loss in a game where there’s nothing in it. All right, we had Macca (Mark McGuinness) and Reu’s (Reuell Walters) errors in the second half when we’re really chasing, they've had a couple of chances there but they shouldn’t have. Minus that in the second half, a goal that was nothing, that’s it. The players have given us everything, but we’re pretty beat up at the moment.”

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With Luton now looking to do some business in the transfer window, already bringing in young defender Christ Makosso, asked if he had been given any reassurances by the club’s board that he will stay in charge until the end of the season, Edwards continued: “No, we’ve not had those conversations.”

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