Edwards wants his side to score plenty of goals the Championship this season
Town chief Rob Edwards has vowed his side will most definitely be fun to watch as they look to attack the Championship in their bid to win an immediate promotion back to the Premier League this season.
With just six wins to cheer last term, Luton were relegated out of the top flight, although despite their return of a mere 26 points, they still proved to be a hit with onlookers, managing to score against every side in the division, which was no mean feat in itself. With Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo both reaching double figures during their maiden crack at the highest level of English football, interest in the pair during the transfer window will no doubt be high, but the pair have so far remained at Kenilworth Road and are expected to spearhead Town’s promotion push.
Meanwhile, Cauley Woodrow and the nearing full fitness Jacob Brown have both previously been regular scorers in the second tier, as Town have a number of goal threats to their name, Tahith Chong looking to build on his excellent second half of the season, Chiedozie Ogbene a real livewire on the right, with Joe Taylor, prolific at League One and Two level, potentially getting some game time too.
Luton’s last time in the Championship saw them go up through the play-offs, although they did so with a number of battling 1-0 victories, particularly once Edwards had taken over in November 2022. In total they notched 57 goals, just five more than the 52 they managed last season when playing six games less and going up against far superior opposition.
Looking ahead, the former Welsh international now wants to try and replicate the success they managed in reaching the Premier League, but in a slightly different fashion, as he said: “I know what I want us to be, the lads know what we want to be. We want to build on the really good performances that we saw in the Premier League last season.
“I want us to play exciting, quick football, aggressive football, I want us to score goals, I want us to be attacking and we saw that a lot last year. This year I want to try and have that and win games, and that’s going to be our challenge. It’s a really exciting time for the football club and we know we can do it because we’ve done it before.
“That doesn’t mean we can just turn up and think we’re going to be able to win and it’s going to be easy. I think everyone understands that and we’ve got our heads screwed on. The Championship is tough, a lot of good teams, a lot of good coaches as well, but we’re in good shape and we want to go and give it our best and do it in a different way perhaps to how we did it last time.”
Edwards was aware there will be a higher level of expectancy on Town this term, but he believes that Luton’s squad, the majority having been battle-hardened from their first experience of the top flight and every one of them improving noticeably as the campaign went on, will be able to cope with the added pressure. He continued: “There certainly will be more expectation and we’ll have to handle that, there’s no doubt about it.
“The last time we were in this league we got promoted and I feel that we’re in a stronger position now and the squad is stronger than what it was then. I don’t want to stand here and say, ‘yeah, we’re going to win the league and do this and that’, but I expect us to be competing and I think everyone does. So we’ll have to deal with that and deliver, but I want us to do it in a fun way.
“I want the stadium to be bouncing. I want the fans to love watching us, I want us to be exciting to watch. I want to score goals, I want us to attack games. I can promise we’re going to do that. We got 52 goals in the Premier League last year. I think we got promoted scoring 57 the year before. So, we want to score some goals this year and that’s our aim. I’m really looking forward to it, I want the season to start next week.”
Having been back for around a fortnight now, with Town currently out in Slovenia where they are being put through their paces and playing two friendlies as well, on how they have been looking, Edwards added: “Good, it’s been a really positive couple of weeks. The break went quite quickly and it’s been nice, we had a bit of down time, some family time, but then its been busy as well.
“Lots going on, one or two changes which are inevitable at the end of a season and going into the new season, but I feel really good, really motivated, really excited. I think the fact the lads have come in in such a positive frame of mind, it feels me with a lot of confidence.”
