Luton Town

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New Luton Town signing Lamine Fanne was unveiled at Kenilworth Road before the 1-0 victory over Hull City on Saturday afternoon.

The Hatters agreed a deal to sign the 20-year-old central midfielder from AIK in August but he returned to finish the season with the Swedish side.

Fanne made 20 appearances and provided four assists for AIK who finished third in the Allsvenskan, Sweden's top flight, with the campaign ending on 10 November.

Manager Rob Edwards said earlier this year that Fanne will take a break before joining up with the squad in January 2025.

“He’s one we all think has really high potential," Edwards previously said.

"He is a strong boy but can take the ball. He’s more of a defensive midfielder and can be really comfortable holding the ball under pressure.

“He’s aggressive and strong in the tackle, and is very skilful."

Luton Town shared a video on X, external of Fanne walking out, waving to the fans and clapping as he received a "brilliant reception".

Image source, Rex Features

Luton Town defender Mark McGuinness says they are ready for the Championship's winter "slog" after easing the pressure with a home win over Hull City.

McGuinness, who made his Republic of Ireland debut in last week's defeat by England, volleyed home the only goal of the game against the Tigers.

The victory moved Luton up to 16th in the table ahead of Wednesday's visit to leaders Leeds United.

"We're very much focused on game by game with an important week to come, (starting with) Wednesday night under the lights against a top side - but they're the games we want to win and games we're sure we can win. We'll go there with full confidence," McGuinness told BBC Three Counties Radio.

The trip to Elland Road will be followed by an away game at Norwich City on Saturday and then six December fixtures before the end of the year.

"This is now where you get the slog, March is the next break for us, so games come thick and fast. It's important we build momentum now and move forward," McGuinness said.

On recent speculation about the position of boss Rob Edwards, he added: "He's always going to get questioned - and everyone in the team's going to get questioned - when you're not winning, it's not nice. But one win changes things, let alone if we go on a nice little run now."

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Luton welcome fellow Championship strugglers Hull City to Kenilworth Road on Saturday for a vital clash between two sides tied on 15 points and only above the drop zone on goal difference.

The Hatters have lost five of their last nine games (W2 D2), including a 5-1 thrashing at Middlesbrough last time out, while the Tigers are winless in seven (D3 L4) following a 2-1 defeat at home to West Brom before the international break.

• Luton Town are unbeaten across their last five league games against Hull City (W4 D1), keeping four clean sheets during that stint.

• Hull City have lost just one of their last five away league games against Luton (W3 D1), with each of those victories seeing the Tigers score 2+ goals in the process.

• Luton have lost 20 league games in 2024, their most in a calendar year since they lost 21 games back in 2015.

• Hull are winless in their last seven league games (D3 L4), losing each of the last two games. The Tigers haven't lost three in a row since a run of five in August/September 2022.

• Luton's Alfie Doughty has created the most chances in the Championship this season (45) and has amassed 69 successful crosses – 39 more than anyone else.

Image source, Rex Features

Luton Town defender Mark McGuinness made his Republic of Ireland debut on Sunday, but couldn’t prevent a heavy Nations League defeat to England.

The 23-year-old centre-back had played 13 times for the under-21s but was handed his first cap by Heimir Hallgrimsson at Wembley, managing to keep the hosts at bay in a scoreless first half, only to go down to 10 after the break and eventually lose 5-0 to ensure a relegation play-off next March.

Meanwhile, Hatters midfielder Marvelous Nakamba played his first 90 minutes of the season to help Zimbabwe qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 30-year-old former Aston Villa man won his 28th cap helped the Warriors pick up the point they needed in a 1-1 draw against Kenya in South Africa to top Group J and secure their place in Morocco with a game to spare.

Nakamba has started only five games in all competitions this season, with another four appearances from the bench, and had played only 86 total minutes in Luton’s past six games, dating back to his last start on 5 October.

Amari’i Bell and Jamaica head to St Louis in the early hours of Tuesday seeking to overturn a first leg deficit in their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against the USA.

Bell was handed his 20th cap by Reggae Boyz boss Steve McClaren as they were beaten 1-0 by the USA in Kingston on Thursday night through Christian Pulisic’s early goal.

Image source, Rex Features

Luton centre-back Teden Mengi has been added to the England Under-21 squad for games against Spain and the Netherlands.

The former Manchester United youngster made his only previous appearance as a substitute in a big win over Luxembourg in March.

Zack Nelson has already been named in the England Under-20 squad for games against Germany and Poland while Joe Johnson will join the under-19s for European Championship qualifiers against Lithuania, Bulgaria and Belgium.

Hatters defender Mark McGuinness is hoping to make his Republic of Ireland debut in Nations League games against Finland or England while Marvelous Nakamba will try to help Zimbabwe qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. Amari’i Bell is in the Jamaica party to face the USA in the Concacaf Nations League quarter-final and fit-again Daiki Hashioka joins Japan for their World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia and China.

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Stevenage boss Alex Revell has offered words of support for under-pressure Luton Town manager Rob Edwards.

The Hatters have yet to respond to Edwards' comments following Saturday's 5-1 defeat at Middlesbrough when he said his future was "out of my hands". Luton are 21st in the Championship and have won just two of their last nine games.

Luton and Stevenage are just 15 miles apart and played each other in a pre-season friendly in July following the former's relegation from the Premier League.

"I met with Rob in the summer when we played them, and he loved last year and the way they played - with their performances towards the end of the season, they probably deserved to stay in the (Premier) league," Revell told the BBC's Football News Show.

"This year's a completely different challenge and it's just the pressures you have to face."

Edwards will celebrate his two-year anniversary as Luton manager this Sunday, having guided the Hatters to promotion in his first season in charge, losing just four times. But the Championship in 2024-25 has proven to be a very different story.

Revell added: "In football, it's about the now, it's where the club is, it's the pressure from above, the risk of relegation in terms of what it costs - there are so many factors that are now on a manager's head, it's not just football."

Image source, Rex Features

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio sports editor

Luton Town haven't started the season very well with expectation upon them.

They've lost eight of 15 Championship games and then that huge defeat at Middlesbrough, losing 5-1 and the manner of the defeat with players not really performing for the club.

Afterwards, Rob Edwards told BBC Radio Three Counties that he wasn't sure about his future and the manner of the interview suggested that perhaps he wouldn't be manager of the club for much longer.

So what is the future of Rob Edwards?

The club haven't really said anything this week and we've got an international break where it would be a good opportunity, if they did want to replace him, to do it now.

At the moment, we are unsure whether Edwards will be in charge of that next game or whether someone else will be appointed - but the longer this goes on, it suggests that perhaps Edwards will keep his job and many people still think he should be the manager of Luton Town.

Others aren't so sure.

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Luton's match winner, Jacob Brown hopes the 1-0 victory over Cardiff is a sign of better things to come for both the team and himself.

The win at Kenilworth Road is only the Hatters' second victory in eight Championship games.

"It's a massive win - we've been playing quite well recently but haven't got the results we wanted," Brown told BBC Three Counties Radio.

The forward, starting just his second game of the season, scored the only goal of the game with a 57th minute header from Alfie Doughty's corner

"I'm just so grateful to be back playing - I maybe haven't started as many games as I want but for me, after so long out injured it's just great to be back playing."

The victory lifts Luton out of the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough.

"The table can change quickly for us and it's good to give the fans a positive performance going into another big game.

"When you're going into an international break you want to be going in with a positive result and we know it'll be tough (at Middlesbrough) but back ourselves wherever we go," said Brown.

Image source, BBC Sport

Luton Town are only one place above the relegation zone on goal difference and have won just one of their previous seven Championship games (D2 L4). The Hatters drew 1-1 at home to West Brom on Friday night.

By contrast, Cardiff City are unbeaten in six, drawing two of those and winning the other four, including a 2-1 victory at home to Norwich City on Saturday.

• Luton Town have won their last three league matches against Cardiff City, never previously winning four in a row against the Bluebirds in the EFL.

• Cardiff have won three of their last four away league meetings with Luton, though they lost there in 2022-23 on their last visit.

• Luton have lost just two of their previous 14 midweek league games in the Championship (W5 D7), though did lose the most recent such game 2-1 against Sunderland.

• Cardiff are winless in their last eight away league games (D3 L5), though could avoid defeat in three successive such games for the first time since November 2023.

• Only against Birmingham (5) does Cardiff's Yakou Meite have more Championship goals against than Luton (4), with all four goals coming in the same game against the Hatters for Reading in July 2020. Indeed, he's failed to score or assist in his four other appearances against them.

Image source, Rex Features

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