Danny Wilson backs Luton to have a real chance of staying up under former team-mate Mick Harford

Former Luton midfielder Danny Wilson has backed the Hatters to have every chance of staying up under the stewardship of his old team-mate Mick Harford.

The club legend is now in his third spell at the helm, having been in charge when Town won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in 2009, with his second stint seeing Luton win promotion to the Championship last term.

He had reverted to his head of recruitment role in the summer, but after Graeme Jones' departure last month, was named relationship manager between the board, staff and the playing squad on football matters.

Wilson, who played with Harford during his time at Kenilworth Road between 1987-90, said: “He’s got enormous respect within football, and when he took the helm as caretaker, he did remarkably well, so lets hope he has something to smile about at the end of this season.

“Mick’s been round the block, he knows the script, he knows what to do and knows how to set teams up.

“But as well as that, character-wise he’s as strong as an ox, so you know he’d have no fear going into those games.

"There’s going to be a lot of big decisions made in the next couple of weeks and I just hope that Luton come out on the side of a good decision from the fans point of view and the club’s point of view."

With Luton returning to training this week, then there is every chance of the season resuming next month, and Town being given the chance to fight for their Championship survival.

With nine games left, they are second bottom and six points from safety, but Wilson hopes they can avoid a swift return to League One having won promotion last year.

He continued: “I speak to Mick now and again, I’ve seen Luton play a couple of times and I’d love them to stay up.

“From the position that Luton find themselves in, six points behind, that at any stage is going to be tough to get back, but you never know.

“Listen, if Luton went down to the end of the season, or the last game, then you never know.”

If the season does resume, then it will be behind closed doors, meaning Luton will lose the advantage of a passionate Kenilworth Road crowd behind them.

Having played in front of the Town supporters a number of times during his 142 games in a Luton shirt, Wilson knows how powerful the Town fans can be.

He said: "It gives you a big lift, the Luton fans did when I was there.

“But as long as across the board it’s the same for everybody, there can’t be any complaints.

“They’ve just got to go out there, 11 v 11 and go and win a game.

“There’s certain factors in games and atmospheres, that will give you a little bit of a lift, or be an advantage to the opposition.

"But I think as long it’s a level playing field, then who knows what can happen?”

Wilson himself has been out of the management game since leaving Chesterfield in January 2017, but believes Town have enough in their squad to climb free this term.

He said: "I’ve watched them quite a bit over the past few seasons.

"I spoke to Graeme (Jones) quite a bit and knew him from a long time ago, the players he’s got, he was more than happy to take them over as he believed they had a great chance of staying up.

"I know it’s difficult to tell people that when you’re not getting results, but he was more than happy.

"Luke Berry is the one I know well as I signed Luke for Barnsley, he had a bad injury last year, but he’s a great lad and a great player.

"They’ve got experience, James Collins up top, he can bang the goals in for you. Can he keep them up? I think he would as he can score.

"Then (Jacob) Butterfield is experienced, and of course George Moncur, so they’ve got something about them.

"But it’s not just how they’re going to react, it’s how other teams are going to react if they have to play these games when they’re under pressure at the bottom and they've got nothing to lose Luton."

When Wilson was part of the Hatters' side, the club remained in the top flight during his three years at Kenilworth Road, also lifting the Littlewoods Cup too, beating Arsenal in 1988.

Like a number of former players, he was upset to see them drop out of the league a few years back, but praised the manner in which they have fought back to reach the second tier once more.

He added: "Of course it is (sad), when you see that situation, but when they bounce back like they did, and they bounced back with vengeance, it was John Still who helped them get back out of non-league, what an achievement that was.

"It’s never easy for a league club to go down and then bounce back again in the manner they did, because everybody wants to beat them.

"It’s a bit of a scalp for non-league clubs, so getting back out of that situation is very, very tough.

“To get back to the status that they are now is a remarkable achievement, hopefully they can maintain it."