Edwards on Nottingham Forest's tweet, the relegation battle and integrity
- Published
Luton Town boss Rob Edwards has been facing the media ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at Wolves.
Here are the main lines from his news conference:
On-loan defender Issa Kabore is unlikely to play again for the Hatters this season after sustaining an ankle sprain in last week’s defeat by Brentford: "It’s a real shame because he’s been great for us and consistent for us – I’m disappointed for him."
Striker Elijah Adebayo is making progress in his recovery from a hamstring issue: "Eli’s getting closer but tomorrow will be too soon. He’ll be the next one off the conveyor belt in terms of the injured lads next to be back."
Chiedozie Ogbene "has been on the grass this week" and has a chance to feature before the end of the campaign.
Edwards addressed Nottingham Forest's tweet last Sunday about the VAR at their game at Everton, Stuart Attwell, being a Luton fan: "I don't think anyone can question the integrity of our officials, first and foremost. I don't know who supports who and obviously then we have been brought into it so I understand why you're talking about it."
More from Edwards on the issue: "I certainly don't want to be questioning any of the officials' integrity - they've got a difficult enough job. Mistakes can happen and people can feel aggrieved and we can maybe stick to that rather than question anything else. I completely understand why people get frustrated and concerned. In the end, we've all got to try and control what we can and that's our own performances and our own clubs and what we put out there I suppose to the world. There is so much scrutiny with what is said - everything that I'm saying right now. You've always got to be careful with that."
On being "in the thick" of the relegation battle: "The stakes are high already and we all know what it means. It's really important to everyone who is in this. There's a number of clubs who are still fighting to avoid it and be in the league next season."
While he understands the drama, Edwards wants Luton to focus on themselves: "We're in a world now of 24-hour news and everyone wants to try and stoke the fire. We've got a title race at one end and obviously there's a relegation battle at the other end that we're involved in. It's really exciting and it's good that we're still in that fight and we've got a chance of getting out of it but really all I'm concerned about right now is not rivalries or what else is going on, it's just our performance tomorrow."
