Rob Edwards was assured in his press conference on Friday afternoon. Despite a change of location from the usual Brache, as well a handful of international break injuries - the Hatters' boss was confident his team have continued heading in the right direction.
Squad news was, of course, marred by several key absences. Nonetheless, ahead of Crystal Palace - Edwards provided an extensive update on his side after a mixed international break.
On a personal level...
“I’ve been on my laptop, trying to find a way to win a game of football. It’s been good, we had a little bit of time off, a little bit of family time. Friday, Saturday, Sunday - it was really nice, I enjoyed it. I got a bit of sleep. We got some good work in in training as well.”
However, the squad admittedly took a few knocks, with Burkinabe Issa Kabore's head injury scare, as well as Chiedozie Ogbene's troublesome ankle taking centre stage...
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Team News
“We’ve got a few of them who are on the way back (from injury) and are really progressing well. Then, we’ve got one or two that have come back from international duty and there’s one or two question marks."
“Not all of them (international players) have come back ok. There’s still one or two that we’re sweating on if you like. It’s not been an ideal international break. Issa’s one of those, I’m not going to go into too much detail. This is how it is with concussion, we’ll go through all the protocols with that and he won’t be available for this game. We’re hoping that he’ll be fine for next weekend.”
“Chieo’s been ok. Obviously, he had to have a little bit of time off. He’s had treatment as well. He didn’t get to represent his country, which he was disappointed about, but I’m hopeful with him.”
“We’ve managed to get him out on the grass. He has been sore and we’ve had to help him through a couple of days but obviously he’s going to keep playing for us as well (as Ireland) but he has been in a lot of pain.”
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Thoughts on Palace
With the opposition, Edwards' first port of call was his opposite number. At 76-years-old, Roy Hodgson is the oldest manager in the league. When asked about him, Edwards comically made his respect for Hodgson and his longevity clear.
”I’ve a lot of respect for Roy (Hodgson), he’s having - and has had - an unbelievable football career. He’s at the top of the game still. I don’t want to be doing it when I’m his age. I don’t know how he’s still doing it to be honest. All I know is it’s going to be a tough game tomorrow and both teams will be really organised. He’s done a fantastic job back there again.”
“They’re always really organised and very clear with what they’re doing. They’ve also got some brilliant individuals, and individuals who could play for most teams in the Premier League. It’s a really young, vibrant team when they’re going forward and they’re very well organised and hard-working."
Despite the plaudits, Luton's manager understood that on the back end of a run of games that saw Liverpool and Manchester United, Palace potentially represent a change in playing style.
“We’ve had to have more of an in-possession focus this week. A lot of our work will be analysing possession, are we going to press? Are we going to when we’re defending lower? How can we transition out of that? We have done a little bit more work with what’s it’s going to be like with the ball and with spaces where we think we hurt them and exploit them."
"We have been improving and when we have another couple of players back, I think we’ll improve again and that’s exciting."
"For Luton Town to go to Old Trafford and almost have half the ball in the second half - we have to sort of stop and stand still and recognise how far we’ve come in a short space of time. We’re building in the right way, but ultimately, whatever we do we’ve got to find a way to get points.”
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Is playing Palace a shot at a second Premier League win?
Crystal Palace have lost three of their last four games, conceding nine goals in the process. However, after a time to regroup, they could come out firing. When asked whether playing the Eagles was a good opportunity to get points on the board before a tough run of games, Edwards was pensively positive.
"I go into it, rightly or wrongly, expecting to win the game and I feel we’ve had a really good week of training."
"We’ve really emphasised that you can’t guarantee a win or a draw or anything, but the basics, the fight, the attitude we’re going into it with. We can guarantee all of that stuff and I think with Kenilworth Road and the noise and the crowd on our side - it can play into our hands. It can make it slightly different and more difficult for the opposition so we’ll want to take advantage of that. It’s certainly a game we’ve got to try and win.”
So, with points on the collective mind - how do Luton make sure Palace leave Bedfordshire with nothing?
“By playing the way we do. I don’t expect them to change too much. If we can play fast and quick football, and play to our strengths - we can cause any team problems. Again, we’ve seen that at home at the Kenny this season so, I’m not going to give our full game plan away. But we’ve had a really good week this week."
"We talked about, of course, from an organisational point of view - what we’re going to do without the ball, how we’re going to be, but also how we’re going to hurt them and exploit the spaces they give us as well. Any team gives you some kind of space and we’ve worked hard this week. The players have been really receptive as well so, we’re going with a good plan.”
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First meeting in nearly two decades
The last time Luton played Crystal Palace was in the Championship in the 2006/07 season. Clearly, between then and now - so much has changed. Edwards reflected on such.
“I think both have been a little bit different. Palace have had a little bit of up and down since then. They’ve got a lot more Premier League experience than we have, but Palace now are a Premier League side that have been here for a number of years. They’ve done well and grown. They’ve got fantastic players."
"Our journey is well documented, we’re really, really different to them so - you can’t really compare can you? I didn’t know it’s been that long since we played them. A lot’s gone on in that time hasn’t it?”
Indeed it has.
