Luton Town: Former boss David Pleat hails 'remarkable achievement' of reaching Wembley
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Luton head coach Rob Edwards was appointed mid-season after being sacked by Watford
Former Luton Town boss David Pleat hailed a "remarkable achievement" by the current side after they reached the Championship play-off final.
Rob Edwards' side beat Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate and will face either Middlesbrough or Coventry at Wembley.
Pleat, now 78, managed the Hatters in the top flight of English football in the 1980s and 1990s.
"The manager's done wonderfully well, the recruitment is superb," Pleat told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
"They've bought players from the lower leagues, they've integrated them in the team, fought and had a great spirit.
"What they're going to do with the big boys, if they do get past Middlesbrough or Coventry, we'll just have to see. Imagine the likes of Manchester City coming here."
Luton trailed 2-1 following the first leg of the play-off semi-final but their intensity, allied to the passionate support of their fans, saw them dominate the return match at Kenilworth Road, which they won with goals from Gabriel Osho and Wales international Tom Lockyer.
"Luton played hard and fast, created a bit of mayhem in the box. They (Sunderland) couldn't quite deal with it," said Pleat, who also played for the club in the 1960s.
"To score a [second] goal on the cusp of half-time was a massive, demoralising blow to Sunderland. They needed to stay in the game really, as long as possible. You need a balance and Sunderland didn't have the power or the punch."
Luton have estimated they will need to spend £10m on their Kenilworth Road home for next season, should they reach the top flight, prior to a proposed move to a new stadium at Power Court for 2024-25.
"It's wonderful for the town. If we can get promotion, we always know the town does better when the club does better, so fingers crossed," chairman David Wilkinson told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"The Premier League means everything. Financially it means we can move on quicker with all of our plans so it would be tremendous, but, feet on the ground [at the moment]."
'We don't just want a day out at Wembley'
Goalscorer Lockyer said a one-goal defeat in the first leg had not been a bad result in front of a 46,000 crowd on Wearside.
"To go there and be just one goal behind meant I had absolutely confidence that if we could come here and get the place rocking and start fast we'd be able to do something special - that's what we've been able to do," he said.
"We always believed with a full Kenny (Kenilworth Road) behind us, we'd be alright."
He added: "These are the special nights, these are the ones you remember at the end of your career.
"[But] I've got one eye on the bigger picture now which is that we don't just want to go for a day out at Wembley, we want to go there and do something special."
Top scorer Carlton Morris told BBC Three Counties Radio that the noise of the crowd had been like having a 12th man on the pitch.
"Kenilworth Road on a night like this is amazing, I have played here as an opposition player and I much prefer playing here as a home player, I'll tell you that for free. It's brilliant," he said.
"The gaffer is brilliant at instilling belief into this squad, we believe in each other, the staff believed in us and we know the fans believe in us, so we came into this game full of confidence and thankfully we delivered.
"When you know you have got a squad of lads who are going to put the effort in that they do then it breeds confidence. I can't wait for Wembley."