A 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday night ended Luton Town's 18-game goal scoring run as well as continue a winless stretch that dates back to the end of January.
That said, the Hatters boss Rob Edwards still managed to find positives from his players as he sat down with the media to address the next game - the visit of AFC Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road on Saturday - a place he deems integral to getting the best out of his players.
As is typical of the 18th-placed Bedfordshire club's current injury crisis, the topic of availability against the in-form Cherries got proceedings under way.
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While a plethora of returning injuries unfortunately weren't on the agenda, there was relief that Reece Burke has made inroads in his recovery following an Achilles issue.
“The ten out are a no, then with Burkey we’re hopeful. We’ll give him as much time as we can.”
“I don’t think (many players will return) for City. Sambi will have the best chance of being back for Brentford. He’s pushing. Eli (Adebayo) and Chieo (Ogbene) will be after that. They’re progressing but it won’t be for the next couple of games, unfortunately.”
While Edwards and the Luton medical staff stress overtime at getting bodies back - it's no doubt played on the coach's mind whether to bring back core players back early.
“It’s something that the players would have to buy into as well, because it’s their bodies. But, they’re really keen to push, and they have been. It’ll be rational, it’ll be educated risks. We’ll see when we get to those latter stages but the lads are really keen to get back as quick as possible now.”
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Iraola's "fantastic job" at Bournemouth
As has become a regular feature at these press conferences, Rob Edwards showed great respect towards the weekend's opposition. When asked about Andoni Iraola, the Hatters' chief had plenty of praise, yet drew the line at whether his club could be compared to the 12th-placed side's similar journey through the English pyramid.
“He’s done an amazing job, along with his staff and players as well. Massive congratulations to them, they’ve been brilliant this year. I know they had a difficult start, I know that can happen. From 20-odd games ago, they’ve been a form team which is really difficult to do in this league.”
“I don’t think we could spend £500 million or whatever it is that they’ve spent over the years to get there. They’ve spent big money and have been backed in a different way to us. I don’t think we can compare the two clubs but obviously the job that they’ve done - looking at the actual football and things like that - there’s a good model there. But, I think it’s impossible to compare the two clubs.”
Closing this opposition section, Edwards offered interesting insight into how his group will look to find a result at home against the Cherries.
“Look at the game against Arsenal the other day, we did really well. We almost had 50% possession in the second half. We played well, it was difficult to create chances, but they didn’t create anything in the second half either - aside from two long range efforts. We tried to attack that game, it was just high level opposition can force you back a little but our approach will always be the same. We’ll always try and be aggressive, always be on the front foot and, yeah, our aim obviously in this game is to try and win.”
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Player focus: Christian Chigozie
Now, while this latest youngster didn't get on the North London turf - the fact that 16-year-old Christian Chigozie was included in the first team squad is reflective of two things. One, Luton are a club pooling their resources in the face of difficulty, and two, this hometown talent clearly has everyone in the Hatters contingent impressed.
Intriguingly, Chigozie sits his GCSEs this summer and even attends school next to Luton's Brache training ground. Edwards spoke about the humble youngster - and gave a brief rundown on just what his potential involvement could do for fellow aspiring footballers in the wider area.
“He’s been pointed out a number of times to us when we’ve gone to watch the U18s or a reserve game. I’ve had really good feedback on him from the staff. We like him as a person. He’s a great young kid, a real role model in the academy and we’ve got high hopes for him. He’ll be in the squad again tomorrow.”
“I think it can be viewed brilliantly. For young kids who are aspiring to be footballers, I think it’s a lovely story. I’ve got to stress, it’s one appearance on the bench - with the nicest will in the world - he’s not made it yet. If he’s made a hundred appearances, maybe he can say ‘right, here I am’ but it’s certainly a really good start.
"Things have been sped up because of the situation we’re in at the moment but I think hopefully if it shows a few kids at school that he’s with, that if you dream and be good, work really hard - then you can achieve something special. It was a special night for him the other night. It would’ve been a great thing for him the other night and he seems to be taking it all in his stride as well.”
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The role of the Luton faithful not lost on Edwards
One thing about Luton, despite any result, is that there will be noise. With fans and players both having a close bond in that intimate Kenilworth Road setting - it should come as a boost that the team just inside the relegation zone play four of their vital last seven games in Bedfordshire. Edwards emphasised the part the fans can play for the rest of the season.
“The supporters will play a huge part, they know that. They’ve been brilliant for us all season long. They were incredible away all season as well.
"They were amazing Wednesday night and that gave me a lot of belief and they did the lads as well, because going over to them at the end of the game - it was obviously a really difficult game for us but they saw, especially in the second half, a good performance from a team that kept going, kept fighting, kept trying. Trying to get that goal that we wanted, so I think they were proud of their team.
"We’ll need each other over these next four home games especially. We need the Kenny to be rocking. I know it will be. They already understand the importance of the role they can play for us.”
