According to Rob Edwards, despite the three-point gap at the bottom of the table - it wouldn't be a miracle if Luton Town stay in the Premier League.
Ahead of this battle between Hammers and Hatters, Luton look to returning key men like Elijah Adebayo and the newly-available Chiedozie Ogbene as sources of inspiration.
Luton head to East London off the back of a 1-1 draw with Everton last Friday with three points the target. Town could get relegated this weekend if they lose or draw to West Ham and Nottingham Forest beat Chelsea. Equally, if Burnley win with Luton losing or drawing, the same applies.
This meeting will be David Moyes' last outing at the London Stadium as he departs in the summer. West Ham look to bounce back after a heavy 5-0 defeat away at Chelsea last weekend.
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Edwards ignores 'miracle' talk
Despite form that hasn't seen them win since April's victory against Bournemouth, Luton Town's spirit and self-belief has been relatively unscathed. When asked if it'd be a miracle to survive, Edwards recalled the adversity in the club's DNA as a driver for success.
“I don't think it would be a miracle at all. We have been in worse situations as a football club and still got out of it. We know what we have to do. We've got to pick up points and that's got to start tomorrow.”
With the permutations described earlier, Luton will be driven on by the fact Forest face a form Chelsea side, while Burnley travel to Tottenham. That said, Edwards was key to outline that the focus remains inwards.
“We’ll concentrate on ourselves. We all know how difficult it is to win in the Premier League. We’ve got to try and do that, and Forest, Burnley - they’ve got difficult games as well. But without us doing our job, it doesn’t matter that much does it?”
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Team News
Edwards revealed that this week's squad is bolstered by the return of dynamic Irish wingman Chiedozie Ogbene and looks to be the strongest team, availability wise, in recent memory. Ogbene's last game for Luton came in the March's 1-1 draw with Forest before he was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
“We’ve got Chieo back training with us, he’s been back for the last couple of days which is good. So he can come into the squad, other than that, we’re where we were.”
“We’ll try and get him involved, but like I said he’s only had a couple of days training but we’re at the stage now where we want to try and get players that have missed games back involved and Chieo’s one of those.”
Elijah Adebayo returned against Everton with a sublimely struck take down and finish combo for his 10th goal of the term. He played 80 minutes before being substituted, that substantial performance as well as the Wolves cameo the week prior, has brought hope to the final fixtures. Edwards spoke of the forward's continued journey to full fitness.
“He’s good, the plan was to just keep him on as long as we could and see - you know, he started looking over and then that was probably the right time (to take him off). We listened to him, he listened to his body and we’ve managed him well throughout the week.”
Speaking further of his group, Edwards continued:
“This is probably the strongest squad we’ve had for a while. There’s still a good number of people missing, but yeah we were never going to get those lads back - so we’re as strong really, as we can be for the last couple of games.”
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'What ifs', Moyes respect, and can the Hatters win at West Ham?
With Adebayo back firing and Ogbene filtering through for the final games, all of a Luton persuasion will likely be ruing the table position if those players weren't out injured. In total this term, Town have faced 13 injuries to senior squad members. Edwards took a determined yet optimistic stance.
“We could be looking back and going ‘what an incredible year’ and that’s the way I want to try and look at it at the moment. It’s still there for us.
"Ok, the odds are against us but they have been all season long. We’ll see where we’re at next Sunday, but that all depends on what we do tomorrow and how we perform.”
On the departing West Ham boss, David Moyes, Edwards was brimming with respect.
“Clearly anyone that’s had that longevity, that kind of career, I look to and have unbelievable respect for. The demands in this job are difficult. It’s not an easy job, football management. I love it, but it is demanding to anyone that’s done it for the number of years that David has, and then the level he has as well.
“He’s built teams, you think about when he moved to Everton and what did there and what he created. Winning a trophy at West Ham as well, it just shows the level of him and his staff, and the players they’ve got there. Longevity and consistently being at the top level just shows how good he is.”
So, can the Hatters get a result at the London Stadium? Considering an attempted bounce back is expected after heavy defeat at Chelsea, Edwards was typically honest.
“We’ll give everything to do that, and that’s the one thing we can never guarantee (winning). We’ll give absolutely everything. It’s always the time to leave it all out there, but it’s now or never.”
He later continued, seemingly channelling similar prose to that of a former Luton Town favourite, John Still:
“Of course they’ll want a reaction after losing. This is their last game at home, and with everything else. We’ve spoken about this being David Moyes’ last home game, so there’s a number of factors that could potentially help them or lift them.
"We can’t control any of that, we can just do what we do and the final messages from us will be ‘be brave, go for it, and try and control what we can.”
