Edwards hopes Luton can make the United natives 'restless' in search of a first Old Trafford victory

Luton boss Rob Edwards is hopeful that his side can make the Manchester United natives ‘restless’ and heap even more pressure on boss Erik ten Hag with a victory at Old Trafford tomorrow afternoon.

The Red Devils have endured a difficult start to the season after finishing third last year to reach the Champions League, while winning the FA Cup as well.

Wednesday night’s 4-3 defeat to Copenhagen in the Champions League was their ninth loss from 17 already this term, as they sit eighth in the table, already six points away from a top four berth.

United’s form on home soil has been a particular concern too, ten Hag seeing his side lose four of their last six matches in front of their own fans to make for what could be an uneasy atmosphere when 73,000 are in attendance at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ on Saturday.

Edwards certainly hopes that is the case, saying: “It’s hard for me to comment on the opposition, they’re Manchester United, they’re expected to be at the right end of the table and winning games of football, or course they are, and they’ll be expected to beat us.

"We’re going to expect the best version of them, and I thought the performance in the first half (against Copenhagen) before Marcus Rashford’s sending off was excellent, probably as well as they've played all year.

"So I’m expecting that version of them and that’s what we’re preparing for, a really, really difficult game and we’re going to have to be right at it to get anything from it.

“If we start the game well, if we’re in the game, then perhaps the natives could grow a little bit restless, because the expectation is they’re going to put us under a lot of pressure and win that football match.

"So we might be able to use that to our advantage, but that’s going to be down to us and our performance, we can’t really control them or the supporters.

"I think in general the United fans are very good, they’re with them and they’ll understand if they go through a difficult moment.

"They might want to really help the players out, but the only thing we can control is ourselves and our performance and how that affects the crowd we’ll see, but if we can quieten them down then great.”

Although ten Hag won silverware in his first season, a number of his decisions have come under scrutiny this term, most notably his handling of Jaden Sancho, the England international frozen out of the team since August.

Some in the media believe that a defeat to Luton could spell the end of his tenure at the club, but that wasn’t something that Edwards would get into, continuing: “I’ve got a lot of empathy for anyone in this role and I can only imagine the pressure on him at that football club is 10, 20, 30, 50-fold from what I feel now in this role.

"The magnitude of what goes on outside, people looking in, everyone has an opinion, especially at that club, one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I can’t comment on it.

"All I think is I’ve got a lot of respect for him, especially the job he did last year winning a trophy, the first one in a long, long time, getting into the Champions League, he’s done a good job

"Yes, they’re in a difficult moment now, but he’s got the quality of players and staff around him to turn it around, hopefully it’s not tomorrow.”

Despite the poor run that United find themselves in, they will still be expected by the majority inside the iconic stadium, and around the globe, to get back to winning ways against the Hatters.

Edwards hopes that is another thing his players can use, saying: “It doesn’t matter who’s playing Luton this year, the pressure is on the opposition, but it certainly will be on United.

"They’re at home, they’ll be expected to beat us, it probably plays into our favour a little bit as well.

"Our performances have generally been good for us, we can take a lot of confidence from last week (drawing with Liverpool) and go and enjoy the game.

"But again, we want to compete and go and play really, really well.”

A victory for the Hatters ahead of the international break would be their first ever at Old Trafford having lost all 16 of their previous visits, scoring just eight times.

In fact you have to go back to when the hosts were called Newton Heath for the one and only away victory by Luton, that coming in 1897, a 2-1 success thanks to goals from Tom McInnes and Tommy Little in front of a crowd of 7,000.

Notified of such a stat, Edwards added: “I didn't know that!

“Sunday showed how difficult it is to win a game of football in the Premier League.

"We were a couple of minutes away, we’ve done it once in 11 so far, so a win, it doesn’t matter who it’s against, for us it would be celebrated and we need them.

"It’s really difficult in this league, but we’ve had a really good week’s work, we’ve prepared really hard and if we do it would be incredible.

"But not just because it’s Manchester United away, but because any win in this league is difficult to get.

“It would be really, really good for us to go into that break on a good performance and preparing well for Crystal Palace, so let’s go and back up last week.”