Luton Town

Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sports editor

So three games left and Luton still have a chance of staying in the Premier League. That is a scenario a lot of pundits were not predicting.

But they need to improve and they need to win matches. And that is even before worrying about what Nottingham Forest and Burnley do. One win in 14 Premier League games is not the form required to stay in the top flight.

The latest defeat at Wolves was another case of a committed, spirited performance - much better than the previous one against Brentford - but not quite good enough.

It has been the story of the season.

Luton are going behind in matches and then in trying to respond, become more open and get caught on counter attacks. They have found that in the Premier League any opposition overloads tend to result in solid chances at goal.

The character and fight in the side cannot be questioned but the extra quality they face is proving to be decisive. And with all the injuries they have had, the squad depth has been found wanting a bit.

The return of striker Elijah Adebayo was a huge positive and gives the Hatters better options up front. Chiedozie Ogbene might be close to a return soon, to add to the team's pace.

Whatever happens in the final three games, the fans will be right behind the team. Support has been phenomenal this season. Even when they conceded five at home to Brentford recently, there was no discontent from the Luton faithful. They understand, as do the club, what the Hatters are up against.

It is still not done and while there’s a chance, there’s hope.

• Listen to coverage of Luton v Everton on BBC Three Counties Radio (Friday, 20:00 BST)

Here are the key facts and figures before Friday's game between Luton and Everton in the Premier League.

• Luton Town have already beaten Everton twice this season, once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup fourth round. As a league club, the Hatters last beat another team three times in one season in 1988-89 against West Ham. The last newly promoted club to beat the Toffees three times in a season were Leeds United in 1964-65.

• This is Everton's first away match against Luton since a 1-0 win in the League Cup in October 2007, with Tim Cahill netting an extra-time winner. Their most recent league visit to Kenilworth Road was also a 1-0 victory back in November 1991 with Robert Warzycha the scorer.

• Luton have won just one of their past 14 Premier League games (D3 L10), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six). Despite this, they have only failed to score in one of their past 23 league games - a 2-0 defeat at league leaders Arsenal last month.

• Everton are winless in nine away Premier League games (D3 L6) since beating Burnley 2-0 in December. Five of the Toffees' first eight league wins this season came away from home - each of their past four have all been at Goodison Park.

• Carlton Morris is Luton's top scorer in the Premier League this season with 10 goals. He has scored in four of his past six appearances at Kenilworth Road, and also netted the Hatters' winner in the reverse fixture against Everton.

• Luton's Ross Barkley, who made 150 league appearances for Everton between 2011 and 2017, has scored just one goal in 10 Premier League games against sides he has previously played for in the competition. That strike came in a match at Kenilworth Road this season in a 3-2 defeat by Chelsea.

Image source, Getty Images

Tom Lockyer says he is "at peace" with the prospect of not playing football again, but has insisted he has not ruled out a return to the pitch.

The 29-year-old Wales defender collapsed after a cardiac arrest playing for Luton Town during a Premier League match against Bournemouth in December.

Resuscitated by medics, he has said he was "technically dead" for two minutes and 40 seconds.

In March, Lockyer became a father for the first time and now says he has re-assessed his priorities when looking to the future.

"I've made no secret saying I would love to return to football, but ultimately it would have to come down to someone who's a cardiologist or a specialist who has done full research into what has gone on and if it could happen again, because we've got a little girl now and she takes priority," Lockyer told BBC Radio Wales.

"I would love to play football again, of course I would, it's my life but if it's the case that I can't, then I'm at peace with that as well.

"I played for my country, I've played in every league and scored in every league from non-league to the Premier League, so it's not the end of the world.

"At the end of the day, I've got my health and that's the most important thing."

Read more from Lockyer here

Ollie Kay
Fan writer

Three gargantuan games to go.

As I said last week, the task is getting harder each week and it remains as difficult as ever.

However, following the Wolves match we have newly found optimism with the return of Elijah Adebayo. Once he entered the field with 13 minutes remaining, grabbing his first minutes since February, the entire team seemingly received an uplift.

The pack we were chasing have all been picking up points and with Sheffield United being relegated, it is now three teams trying to get to the top of the pile to avoid the remaining two relegation spots.

It is a tight and exciting relegation battle for the neutral, but being in it as a fan is hard work. One can imagine the players in each team are also feeling the strain.

All that matters now is getting points on the board and our home games are crucial for this.

Every fan will admit that being in with a shot of taking our survival to the final day of season would qualify as a good season - especially considering all pundits were sharpening their pencils to write off our chances of survival before a ball had even been kicked this season, with some even saying we would be down by Christmas.

That is what we do at Luton; we prove people wrong. We inspire and most importantly - we never give up.

Ollie Kay can be found at We Are Luton Town, external

Image source, Getty Images

Premier League clubs have voted in favour of adopting an anchoring economic model, which will be linked to the earnings of the bottom club (tv and prize money).

The proposed system would operate like a spending cap.

The next stage is final analysis and drafting of rules, which will potentially be put to clubs at an AGM in June.

The model will be presented to clubs and - should clubs vote in favour then - it will replace the Profit and Sustainability Rules currently in place, from the 2025-26 season onwards.

Any new element of the financial system would come in shadow next season, to fully replace PSR in 2025-26.

“We will obviously wait to see further details of these specific proposals, but we have always been clear that we would oppose any measure that would place a ‘hard’ cap on player wages," said the PFA

“There is an established process in place to ensure that proposals like this, which would directly impact our members, have to be properly consulted on.”

Aston Villa, Manchester City and Manchester United opposed the vote, with Chelsea abstaining.

Image source, Getty Images

Luton Town's hopes of Premier League survival were dented by Saturday's defeat to Wolves.

Rob Edwards' side have three games remaining against Everton, West Ham and Fulham and are one point behind Nottingham Forest in 17th.

However, looking at the run-in on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily Podcast, former Tottenham defender Stephen Kelly believes the fixtures favour Forest more.

"Luton have given an unbelievable go at it and have exceeded what everyone expected from them," said Kelly. "But with their run-in, I think Forest will see it through and cling on."

Nuno Espirito Santo's side face already relegated Sheffield United and Chelsea, before an end-of-season trip to Burnley which could seal the fate of either side.

The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards added: "I agree with Stephen and I can not see Luton picking up the wins that they need. But, you just never know!"

Listen to the Football Daily Podcast on BBC Sounds

We asked for your views on Saturday's match between Wolves and Luton Town.

Here are some of your answers:

Wolves fans

Tim: It could so easily have ended in tears when Luton had a last-gasp shot... but it didn't. There is no doubt that Wolves deserved the win. We really dominated the match and the score certainly didn't flatter us. Bring on Manchester City next Saturday.

Kieran: Finally we got a win. Well done team. It is a shame that Dawson is out for the rest of the season, but we can play without him. Next up is Manchester City, which will be tough. We have beaten them already, so who says we can't beat them again? Come on you Wolves!

Jon: It was good to finally get a win, particularly after the awful display against Bournemouth. Boubacar Traore was very impressive in midfield. Once we got the second goal, we looked very comfortable. We gave them hope at the end, but they never looked like equalising. Hopefully our patched up squad can make a fist of our next match against Manchester City!

Simon: That's more like it. It had all the hallmarks of a banana skin game. Former Wolves player Rob Edwards, Luton fighting for safety, Wolves in poor form. But we got the three points. Job done.

Luton fans

Christian: I've had faith all season. I'm starting to doubt if we can stay up now though. I was so hopeful for points against Brentford and at Wolves. We still have a chance, but only because Forest can't pick up points either and have had four points taken away as well.

Mickelson: Very, very poor. I think they have stopped trying.

Ian: I am proud when we win and loyal when we lose.

Finn: I think we will stay up, but the Premier League is another level. Just three more games to go and we still can stay up. Come on you Hatters!

With Everton and Brentford sealing their Premier League survival, only three teams are left in the fight against relegation this season - Nottingham Forest, Luton Town and Burnley - with just two points separating the three teams at the bottom of the table.

Former Premier League midfielder Michael Brown has been discussing the survival race on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily Sports Report: "Well, my former team Sheffield United didn't have enough.

"Then you have Burnley, they are not going away and they are keeping up that fight.

"Luton have surprised everybody so much this season, but they are now falling away with some poor results. They had some good home games that you would have expected them to get some results in, given the way they have gone about things this season.

"Nottingham Forest are under that pressure as well.

"So, who is going to do it? I think Forest are the favourites at this moment in time, but what an end to the season it is going to be at the bottom of the league."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch highlights of Sunday's games on Match of the Day 2 here

Listen back to Saturday's BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full:

• Man Utd 1-1 Burnley

• Everton 1-0 Brentford

Blackburn Rovers want up to £20m for Republic of Ireland forward Sammie Szmodics, with Brentford, Luton Town and Sheffield United all interested in the 28-year-old. (Sun), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Here are the key facts and figures following Saturday’s game between Wolves and Luton Town in the Premier League.

• Wolves are unbeaten in their past nine league meetings with Luton Town (W5 D4) and they have now won each of their last three home league games against the Hatters, having won just one of their previous six such matches at Molineux.

• Luton have won just one of their last 14 games in the Premier League (D3 L10). Since the start of this run in February, no side has won fewer games in the top four tiers (Rotherham and Sheffield United have also only won one game).

• Wolves have scored 48 goals across 35 Premier League games this term, with the Wanderers last managing more at this stage of a top-flight season in 1972-73 (53 goals after 35 games).

• Matheus Cunha has been directly involved in 18 goals across 29 games in the Premier League this season (11 goals, 7 assists). Only Raul Jimenez has managed more goal involvements in a single campaign for Wolves in the competition (23 in 2019-20 and 20 in 2018-19).

• Carlton Morris has now reached double figures for goals in consecutive league campaigns, after only managing to do so once across his first six seasons in the top four tiers.

Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Time is running out for Luton to seal a second successive season in the Premier League and Rob Edwards needs his side to halt a torrid run of form.

Luton have won just one of their last 14 league games, losing 10 times during that run, but they are only one point from safety with three matches left to play.

Goal difference could prove to be a big factor after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford prior to this loss at Wolves.

They struggled to create chances at Molineux with 43 minutes between Carlton Morris' first half header and their next opportunity when the striker volleyed in with just 10 minutes left to play.

Morris, who took his tally for the season to 10 goals, was left isolated for large periods and Edwards will need to solve that issue over the coming weeks.

There was a positive for Edwards to take in the closing stages as striker Elijah Adebayo was introduced from the bench, making his first appearance since 10 February after recovering from a thigh injury.

Luton host Everton next time out before travelling to West Ham and then ending the campaign at home against Fulham.

Luton manager Rob Edwards has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day following the narrow defeat: "I'm disappointed because we didn't get anything from the game. It is frustrating how we conceded the two goals, but I have got pride in how we kept going until the very end. After a difficult week last week, it is good to see that.

"That is the stuff we can hang on to going into the final three games. Points-wise, we are on a difficult run but we are still in this. We still fully believe.

"We were playing well in the first half, but it's one direct ball and then a deflection to take it in. The second one is disappointing, a loopy cross comes in and we should defend it better.

"We showed character and spirit. We could have conceded more but we rode it. We are frustrated not to take anything from the game because I don't think there was much in it today."

On whether the players still believe they can fight relegation: "I think you could see that today. If they didn't believe, it could have been a lot worse today. You would have seen it on the pitch and I didn't see that at all.

"We thought that if we are going to lose it, then it will be by going to chase an equaliser and that's what we did. The performance today, from last week [losing 5-1 against Brentford], is a positive step.

"Wolves had some real quality today, with [some of their] players coming back. I just don't think there was much in the game."

Wolves ended a six-game winless run in the Premier League and piled pressure on relegation-threatened Luton with a victory at Molineux.

Hwang Hee-chan scored his first club goal since 27 December to put Wolves in front late in the first half, after both sides had struggled to find a way out of midfield.

The South Korea forward netted with the help of a deflection off defender Teden Mengi just 18 seconds after Carlton Morris was unable to convert Luton's best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes, heading straight at Jose Sa.

Wolves showed intent after the break and it took just five minutes to double their advantage when Toti Gomes found space to head in at the far post.

Gary O'Neil's side dominated the second half with Boubacar Traore, Nelson Semedo and Rayan Ait-Nouri spurning good opportunities to make life even more comfortable.

Morris gave Luton some hope of a grandstand finish when he volleyed in from six yards out, but they couldn't find any further joy.

The win moves Wolves up to 10th and just three points behind eighth-placed West Ham, with Luton remaining 18th and one point shy of safety.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

Wolves fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Luton fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on Andy Bell and Steve Queralt from Ride, who support Arsenal and Tottenham.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

Wolves are in awful form so this might seem like a good fixture for Luton, who are desperate for points. I am not so sure it will work out that way.

I watched the Hatters' lose 5-1 at home to Brentford last week and while they play expansive football which means they carry an attacking threat, it means they are extremely vulnerable at the back.

Luton's approach is to be brave, and I understand that, but the Bees could have scored eight or nine and Wolves are good enough to expose those frailties too.

I said in February that Luton boss Rob Edwards will be manager of the season if he keeps them in the Premier League, and I stand by that - but he is up against it now.

Steve's prediction: 1-2

It's now or never for Luton and this is a real chance for them to make some ground up. They are going to go hell for leather to get an away win.

Andy's prediction: 1-0

I am backing Wolves. I know they are not on a good run but whenever I've seen them this season, they have played really well.

Read the rest of their predictions here