Wednesday night's 4-3 defeat at AFC Bournemouth would be enough to falter the most cool-headed of managers. To lose after being three goals ahead at the break? It leaves you thinking that anyone entering a Premier League dugout is insane.
That said, Luton Town's Rob Edwards kept hold of his mental strength and spoke about how his players bounced back from the events at the Vitality. He also addressed the matter of his ever-depleted squad ahead of Nottingham Forest's visit to Kenilworth Road on Saturday - a fixture which has been rightly billed as vital for both team's bid for survival.
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Spirits high despite drama at the Vitality
Midweek defeat seemed damning on the face of it. Three first half goals from Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and then Ross Barkley, put Luton into a commanding lead. However, that margin was left in ruin after the hosts had forced level just after the hour through Dominic Solanke, Illia Zabarnyi, and Antoine Semenyo.
The late winner from Semenyo on 84' was truly the kicker - signifying a stat Hatters won't want to dwell on. The Cherries became the third team in Premier League history to win a match in which they trailed by three goals at half-time, after Manchester United (against Tottenham in September 2001) and Wolves (against Leicester in October 2003). Edwards reflected on how his group coped with the turnaround.
“I feel good. I feel ready to go. There’s no other way, we’ve just got to get it out of the system. We watched it back. We can review it with the players, as we said afterwards, learn from the bits we got wrong and try and keep working on the stuff that we did well.”
“We lost a game of football. We lost it in a strange way, but I like to think that we dealt with it pretty quickly. We stayed over that night, we had a good meeting with the players when we got back to the hotel. We were down, but it was important that we tried to shift the focus on, ‘right, let’s learn from what we got wrong’. We don’t sweep it under the carpet. We deal with it and we’ve got to learn from it.”
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Team news
While there wasn't much change from Edwards' squad in terms of returns, there was relief as Tahith Chong's knock against Bournemouth wasn't serious enough to warrant time on the sidelines.
“He’ll be ok. It was a contact injury, so he was in a lot of pain but he’ll be ok.”
Edwards addressed the injury statuses.
“Sambi’s the next one we’re hoping will be back, but there’s not too many on the horizon unfortunately. (...) Eli’s not close, Sambi’s getting there. Eli had a setback, he was trying to rush, he was trying to push, but he’s not close. Hopefully Sambi is.”
With particular focus on Elijah Adebayo, it was asked whether the nine-goal man could be out for the rest of the season.
“Potentially. His hamstring is worse. We were in a position where we were feeling good and were pushing. He was pushing as well, but he felt it again so we’ve got to be really careful. There’s not long left of the season is there? So, I don’t want to say that yet, but it’s going to be a bit longer for him.”
Gabe Osho is still absent, yet the Luton boss believes the international break has arrived at the right time for the defender.
“This rest now (international break) will be good for him but he’s still in pain today.”
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Player focus: Carlton Morris
Ahead of Saturday's game in Bedfordshire, Carlton Morris will likely be looking forward to getting back in front of the home fans. The striker has been involved in four direct goal involvements (three goals, one assist) in his past four games at Kenilworth Road, one more than in his first 10 at home in the competition. Edwards spoke about the solid presence of Morris on his side, even in the defeat at Bournemouth.
“He gave us a good base to build from, especially in that first half I thought he was difficult for them to play with. He was putting us into some good pockets of space where we were able to hit in. He also gave us something to build from if we wanted to go a little more direct."
"I was really pleased with his performance, especially in that first half. Unfortunately, we weren’t really able to get him in the game in the second half. He had a big moment from a set-piece where I think it’s just come off his shoulder and then fell to Ross, but it didn’t quite go for us at three-all. Carlton, he does lead by example. He’s wearing the captain’s armband for us in Locks’ absence. He has been consistently very, very good for us.”
"When he was out of the team for the first few games, he just showed what a team player he is and how important this club is for him because he didn’t change. He worked even harder I think. He’s a good guy.”
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Player focus: Tahith Chong
While injuries have been rife in LU1, the absences have seen the fringe players really step up. This couldn't be more true of late, for Tahith Chong with two goals in his last three - the last of which, of course, came on Wednesday night.
“I’m really pleased with Chongy’s impact and getting some consistent playing time has been great for him. He’s working really hard and doing lots of things well. He’s a real threat for us."
"You know when he was affecting games when he was coming on, that’s been the message to get that start. Consistently now, he’s been doing that. He was involved, obviously with that goal against Liverpool and he scored the other day. He’s been creating good moments consistently in lots of games. We need that.”
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Thoughts on Tricky Trees and the importance of the home fans
As he typically does, Rob Edwards was full of praise and detail toward the weekend's upcoming opponent. Although Forest are the team directly above Luton in the table, the Hatters boss was wary around the talent at Nuno Espirito Santo's disposal.
“It’s a huge game for both clubs. There’ll be pressure on them as well. I think they’re pretty clear in what they do. Nuno’s obviously a very good and experienced coach. Tactically, he’s very aware. So they’ll have a good plan. They’ve had a week to prepare for the game, we’ve had a do for it so it favours them a little bit. I think they’ll be a very difficult game. They’ve got a good mixture of pace and power and athleticism and skill for the attack. They can really attack quickly and very effectively."
"Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, where could they play? Origi, Awoniyi, Wood. They’ve got top players at that end of the pitch. They’ve got a good balance behind with someone like Yates, Dominguez - or whoever they decide to play in the middle. There’s good control and some running power and discipline and quality in there. They’ve got a lot of good players, as we know, so - it’s a tough game. It’s got to be about us tomorrow and what we do in our plan. If we can get it right, we know how difficult it is when they come to Kenilworth Road.”
Praise aside, there was still this determined underlying tone of competition synonymous with Luton's target of staying up. Back at Kenilworth Road, of course, Edwards offered a rallying cry towards the fanbase.
“We’re really going to need them tomorrow. More than ever. We talk about this being a cup final, it is - we need it like Watford last year. We need it like Sunderland last year in the semi-finals. That’s the atmosphere we’re going to need. Then it’s down to us to perform, to keep levels high. They’re a special group of fans.”