Luton Town

How far can the never-say-die attitude we saw from Luton in last weekend's draw at Nottingham Forest take them this season?

I think it can get them right through the campaign. What I believe to be the most important thing though is that they need to be in touching distance of the rest of the teams, so that there is something to fight for. Then it will help them all the way. As we have seen in the past, when the fight is over, it can fall away.

Make no mistake, right now they will be loving this. Everyone wrote them off, myself included. The manager will be using it every single week, saying "let's prove everyone wrong".

We are loving watching their story too, coming through the leagues and surprising people. They will hang in there as long as they are not cut adrift and that is the key, staying in touch.

You would be amazed if they can do it. The truth is they need three teams to perform so poorly as they are not going to get a large tally of points, that's what clear.

They may need reinforcements. If they feel there's a chance there, the board, I am sure, will try to do something. If they are in and around it they will have more belief. Players may have thought they won't join them at the start of the season, whereas if they are in touching distance above the relegation zone, it will be more attractive to players coming in.

You have to give the staff and players huge credit for getting results with the resources they have. If I am honest, I think bringing in new players isn't too much of a risk to upset the balance. They will be on a massive high right now so I don't think there's a problem with that at this moment in time. They brought a few in and are trying to integrate them and as a club or group of players, they will accept they need quality in the building.

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Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Sport

Luton Town are one of those wonderfully annoying teams who won't give up.

No matter if they are taking a beating, they keep coming back for more like a boxer who's hit the deck a few times but still drags themselves to their feet and carries on slugging away irritating their opponent.

Sometimes it isn't enough, but if you keep doing it rewards will - and do - come.

Nottingham Forest thought it was game over on Saturday when they went two up. With just over ten minutes to go Steve Cooper made a triple change, taking off two big-hitters who act as the spine of the team - Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare (Cooper said it was because they had been on international duty, but I suspect he's regretting it now) - and there was an air around the City Ground that the job had been done.

But Luton weren't done. As manager Rob Edwards told me afterwards: "These lads never, ever quit."

I won't run through the full lyrics, but the Hatters' famous war-song against the football authorities for the perceived injustices of the points deductions 15 years ago, which nearly saw them go under, includes the line "they tried to kill us off, we're not so soft". It applies to the football club as a whole. The team beautifully mirror the sentiment.

Edwards doesn't just believe it's about not giving up. He thinks his side have ended strongly in every game: "We fight all the way to the end. We finish games strongly. We've done that consistently now throughout this season."

The majority of Luton's opponents will dominate possession and chances (I expect Aston Villa will on Sunday) and I'm sure many will get the feeling that a win is inevitable. But with what this club has gone through, the Hatters are made of sterner stuff on and off the pitch.

You underestimate them at your peril - this lot will keep punching to the bitter end.

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• This is the first meeting between Aston Villa and Luton in any competition since August 2016, a 3-1 win for Luton in the League Cup. It's their first meeting at Villa Park since October 2002, with Villa winning 3-0 also in the League Cup.

• Villa have won their last 11 home Premier League matches, their best home winning league run since a 13-match streak between February and October 1983. In this current winning streak, the Villans have scored 31 goals and conceded just five.

• Luton are one of four teams without a Premier League clean sheet this season, shipping 17 goals so far. They are the first side to not keep a clean sheet in any of their first nine games in the competition since Bolton in 1995 (first 10).

• Luton came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest in their last Premier League game. The Hatters have only led for 66 minutes this season, all in the win against Everton in September, the second lowest of any side, ahead only of Sheffield United (27).

• Since Unai Emery’s first Premier League game in charge of Aston Villa, only Manchester City (78), Arsenal (74) and Liverpool (71) have won more points than the Villans (68).

• Ollie Watkins has been involved in 10 goals in his nine Premier League games for Aston Villa this season (5 goals, 5 assists).

Ian Robertson/Ollie Kay, We Are Luton Town, external

Well would you look at that, Luton Town - who would be relegated by Christmas - are the best performing team out of the three promoted sides.

Sure it’s still early days, what with only nine matches played, but there is a very clear pattern starting to be shown in the division - the 'haves and the have nots'.

All the teams in European competitions and with massive transfer outlays are occupying the top 10 spots, and the teams who one would deem as in the relegation scrap are in the bottom 10.

That is not to decry the money spent by the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League, but it certainly is telling that regardless of how they performed in their initial seasons, the bottom half contains seven teams that were promoted from the Championship over the last three seasons.

People discuss the gap between the Championship and Premier League getting wider, but in reality the gap between the 'haves and the have nots' is probably the widest it has ever been. Sure, an upstart can occasionally bloody a nose, or pull themselves up by their boot straps and penetrate that elite with transfer savvy and top coaching.

This weekend we saw Nottingham Forest, who have spent nearly £300m over the last two seasons, against Luton Town - who’s transfer outlay is under 10% of that in the same period. For what? To be two positions higher in the table? Watch out elite, it might take a few seasons, but we are coming to disrupt.

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We asked for your views on Saturday's game between Nottingham Forest and Luton.

Here are some of your comments:

Nottingham Forest fans

Peter: To be honest, due to the overall poor quality of football being played by Forest, I had this match down as a 0-1 win to Luton. Therefore, I suppose we should be grateful for a draw. I’m sad to say that the Premier League is now becoming a huge disappointment.

John: We could have been 3-0 up at half time. We began the second half positively and scored twice but then the wheels fell off. I don't know what went wrong but we ended up looking disorganised and vulnerable. Hope we can sort this out before Anfield.

Luke: The Luton fans were chanting “2-0 and you *messed* it up” at us and it’s never been more relevant. Our inability to see a game out or get over the line is becoming a concern, especially when coupled with injuries to our key attackers. I still don’t think we’re in a relegation fight but we might not be as comfortable as we’d hoped.

Dave: Terrible subs from Cooper. Complete control all game and then he brings on Worrall who has consistently underperformed but has been rewarded with a new contract. Two mistakes in ten minutes and we have thrown away two points.

Luton fans

Tim: Brilliant comeback by the Town. Rob’s subs were perfect. Barkley orchestrated the attack, Townsend injected the energy and Adebayo caused havoc. The Town are back and learning fast.

Sue: We were never going to get beaten. I had every confidence we would pull it back. Something rather special happened after the three subs. I have not been a fan of Barkley but I am now, Adebayo onwards and upwards.

Louise: Luton just don’t give up! Forest should have cruised to victory but the substitutions from both sides ultimately determined the game. Luton were on the front foot as soon as Townsend and Barkley came on. A gutsy final 10 minutes swung it in our favour and we dug out some decent goals to grab a point, which could be crucial come May.

Andy: I've been a Luton supporter for 55 years and have watched them from Salisbury to Yeovil and Blackpool to Bury over the years. The Hatters have always had a never say die attitude and others should take them for granted at their peril. Recent losses have all been by the odd goal. The next two months will define their season as they face the big guns!

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Image source, Getty Images

Tom Gayle, BBC Sport

Andros Townsend finally made his long-awaited return back to elite English football, after 19 months to be exact, with his substitute appearance for Luton at Nottingham Forest.

The standout difference to the previous 264 Premier League outings was the sight of Townsend Sr on the back of the 32-year-old's shirt.

Speaking to the Luton media team, they explained how the former England international had to get special dispensation from the Premier League to make the change. The reason being Townsend has a four-year-old son, Andros Townsend Jr, and you would assume, there are hopes he can follow in his father's footsteps and have a career in professional football.

‘Project Townsend’ is well underway.

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Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis of Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, then fear not- you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer here.

And Match of the Day 2 brings you a round-up of Sunday's games here.

Listen back to Saturday's commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

Man City 2-1 Brighton

Arsenal 2-2 Chelsea

Listen back to Sunday's commentary in full on BBC Sounds:

Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham

Luton will have to pay at least £5.5m for 19-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder Oscar Zambrano with his club LDU Quito holding out for the best offer. (Sun), external

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

• Nottingham Forest have drawn each of their last three home games, doing so in the league for the first time since April 2013 in the Championship.

• Luton have equalled their worst ever start to a season across the top four tiers – collecting just five points from their opening nine league games (also doing so in 1962-63 and 1974-75).

• Forest recorded their highest xG (expected goals) total since their return to the Premier League in 2022 (2.85). The Reds also had 19 shots, attempting more on only one occasion across that period (20 v Bournemouth in January this year)

• Elijah Adebayo scored his 30th league goal for Luton, the striker has scored more league goals for the Hatters than any other player since his debut for the club in February 2021.

• Chris Wood netted his first ever league goals against Luton, with the Hatters becoming the 53rd side that Wood has scored against in his English league career.

Elijah Adebayo's excellent late goal helped Luton come from two goals down to claim a confidence-boosting draw against Nottingham Forest.

The Hatters were trailing 2-0 until the 83rd minute when Forest failed to deal with a routine free-kick and Chiedozie Ogbene fired home the loose ball.

Substitute Adebayo then cushioned a long ball on his chest before stroking his finish past Matt Turner to level the game in the second added minute.

Earlier, Chris Wood had put Forest in front two minutes into the second half and added a second after 76 minutes to seemingly set them on course for victory before Luton's stunning late fightback.

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

Nottingham Forest fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

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

Follow all the reaction here

There is lots of Premier League action on Saturday with eight games set to be played out, and we'll bring you every moment.

Follow all the action and reaction here

Live commentaries:

• Manchester City v Brighton - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Chelsea v Arsenal - BBC Radio 5 Live

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

His opponents for this weekend's fixtures are Joelah and Keke, the award-winning presenters of 1Xtra's Throwback Party on BBC Sounds.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

I like what Luton are doing this season. I don't want to patronise them but they deserve some credit, because they are making a scrap of it.

The Hatters will probably feel they should have got something out of 10-man Tottenham before the international break, and lost very late to Burnley earlier in the same week, but they are always being competitive and carry a threat even when they finish up empty-handed.

I kind of feel like the same sort of thing will happen to them here, though.

Again, it's a game Luton will feel they can get something out of but Forest's home form is strong and they have got plenty of matchwinners in their squad.

Keke's prediction: 2-0

Joelah's prediction: 3-0

Read the rest of their predictions here

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League has confirmed that the television dates for this season's festive fixtures will be released early next week.

The TV selections for the whole of December were due to be released on Friday, but only the first weekend of matches, including Manchester City versus Tottenham in the Sunday 16:30 slot, have been confirmed.

The Premier League has been toying with the idea of moving a match – understood to be Wolves' home game against Chelsea - from Saturday, 23 December to Christmas Eve.

It would be the first time a game has been played on 24 December since 1995, when Leeds United beat Manchester United.

Katie Catherall, BBC Sport

Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has been speaking to the media before the squad travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Here are the main headlines from his media conference:

• On Mads Andersen's injury: "He's got a nasty hamstring injury and will be out for a couple of months, it's a real shame. He's still smiling and will come back better and stronger from this. He's watching the tactical sessions and is keeping involved in game plan chats."

• Edwards was full of praise for Andros Townsend, who joins the club with a wealth of experience: "He's a really good footballer, a brilliant person and has experience at this level. He's impeccable in training and has a great attitude. We want someone who can make an impact and we believe he can do that. Not saying that will be tomorrow, but he will be involved."

• Edwards said the international break was great to rest players and build on the work they've been doing in training. He's confident that areas are improving.

• On whether Luton can emulate Forest's comeback last season: "It does give us some belief and confidence that we can achieve a similar thing. We knew what we were going into when we went into this league. I'd be concerned if we were getting battered and not creating chances. It's hard to compare though, they're a different club."

• On the racist abuse directed at Elijah Adebayo: "We reported it to the correct channels, want to support Eli, it's disgraceful and we don’t want people like that in the game. Hopefully it doesn’t happen often or ever again but if our players get that kind of abuse we can support them and get the people doing it out of the game."

• Edwards says it is frustrating to not have more points on the board, but the squad are "confident" that they can achieve more.

• On dealing with an increase of injuries: "Naturally our intensity has gone up, both in training and games. It's inevitable we will get injuries."

• On Steve Cooper's success at Forest: "He's had four and a bit years in management and every year has been very successful, what he’s done there at that club, no one else has been able to do that in a long time. He's doing well again this season. Hopefully we get one over on them, it'll be another tough one for us."

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Image source, PA Media

Geoff Doyle and Simon Oxley from BBC Three Counties Radio have picked out their five successes from Luton Town's first eight games as a Premier League club.

Among them is the form of summer signing Thomas Kaminski in goal for the Hatters.

"He's growing into it and he made some good saves against Tottenham," said Oxley.

"After the issue at Fulham when that one was spilled, and I guess the one against West Ham, he's been excellent.

"Having Tim Krul there [as competition for his place] has made Kaminski better because he knows there's somebody who will challenge him. He knew that another error, maybe off the back of Fulham, might have seen seen Krul get an opportunity. But not at the moment, Kaminski's very much the number one."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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The latest Luton Town podcast from BBC Three Counties Radio is out. Simon Oxley and Geoff Doyle pick out the five successes of the season so far.

Simon’s top five: 5 - Teden Mengi; 4 - Thomas Kaminski; 3 - Recruitment; 2 - Alfie Doughty; 1 - Getting the Bobbers Stand built in 11 weeks.

Geoff’s top five: 5 - The club dealing with life in the Premier League; 4 - Chiedozie Ogbene; 3 - Marvelous Nakamba; 2 - Carlton Morris; 1 - The win at Everton’s Goodison Park.

Listen to the new episode of Luton in the Prem

What's the best thing so far this season? Tell us here

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Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

Andros Townsend played an hour for the Luton Town development side on Tuesday and scored for the young Hatters team. He also played for them a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't long after that the former England international was given a Luton contract until January after his trial.

He could be involved with the first team for the first time on Saturday away to Nottingham Forest.

This feels a bit like the Ross Barkley signing. We're not quite sure what we're going to get.

Townsend is 32. Barkley just a few years younger. Both were regular Premier League players over a number of seasons in the previous decade.

But injuries and form have diminished their Premier League status and the pair now find themselves at Kenilworth Road.

Townsend has been hit harder by injury suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage at Everton which stopped him playing for 18 months.

So what sort of Townsend are Luton fans going to see? Can he reach the consistent levels he did when he spent those five good years at Crystal Palace?

Hatters supporters will hope so and that he can add quality and Premier League experience to the Luton team. Rob Edwards's side are still finding scoring goals difficult [six in eight games] and Townsend might just be able to add some spark to the team.

He's likely to be deployed on the right which will give Luton further attacking options. But as Barkley has found in a Hatters shirt, it is difficult hitting the ground running in the top flight. Barkley has yet to hit anywhere near the levels we have seen from him in the past.

There is still time for Barkley and of course we await to see whether Townsend still has it. It's these type of players Luton have to call upon if they are after genuine Premier League experience and you can understand why both are worth a punt.

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