Luton loss 'down to players, not boss' - Morris

After a lean start to the season, Luton captain Carlton Morris has now scored four goals in as many games

Luton Town captain Carlton Morris says Hatters boss Rob Edwards has "fallen on a grenade" for the team by attempting to shoulder the full blame for Saturday's morale-sapping Championship defeat at Coventry.

Under-pressure Edwards said "this one's on me" after his Luton side let slip a 2-0 half-time advantage to go down 3-2 to the Sky Blues.

After losing their lead by the 76th minute, Luton went on to be hit by a scrappy, close-range Haji Wright winner for Coventry two minutes into injury time.

"The manager is going to try and fall on the grenade for us," Morris told BBC Three Counties Radio. "But he doesn't need to do that.

"Ultimately it's down to us players. We were 2-0 up - and we needed to manage the game better.

"You have to give credit to Coventry. They put us under it in that first half, but we still scored twice and we should have had enough about us to see it out.

"We've got enough experience and strong players at this level to do even more. I'm not going to stand here and make excuses. We just need to be better."

Carlton Morris' 15th-minute penalty at Coventry was his fourth goal of the season

Having slipped into the Championship's bottom three as a result of their seventh loss in 12 league games this season, defeat came at an added cost for Luton, who lost the red-carded Tom Holmes and left-back Alfie Doughty, whose fifth league booking also rules him out of Friday's home game with West Bromwich Albion.

But Morris is insistent that Luton will be back in full-on mode when the faltering Baggies - now six games without a win after topping the Championship in mid-September - turn up at Kenilworth Road.

"The amount of players we've had missing and injured has been a frustration," said Morris. "But we're not just going to lie down and take it. We're going to come back fighting.

"It has been a frustrating day for us - and the fans. But we're already looking forward to another tear-up at home next Friday night."

'I'm so proud of Adebayo'

Luton's Carlton Morris (left) and Elijah Adebayo have netted 57 goals between them since first linking up for the Hatters in August 2022

One bright spot to come out of Saturday's loss for Morris was seeing strike partner Elijah Adebayo's name on the scoresheet after a challenging week for the forward.

condemned the latest instance of racist abuse directed at Adebayo, who was sent an abusive message on Instagram during Wednesday's 2-1 Championship defeat by Sunderland at Kenilworth Road.

"It's something that's still in football a little bit," added Morris. "I've had to deal with it too and he's been there for me.

"And the club's response to it was brilliant. We can't just ignore it. You have to draw attention to it - to act as a deterrent. It's nice when you see the football community pull together.

"I'm incredibly proud of him as a person. For him to go and react like that and take the goal the way he did speaks volumes for his character - but I know how he'll be feeling. Just like me, that we took nothing away from the game."

Carlton Morris was talking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Simon Oxley