Edwards praises Osho despite defender conceding penalty at Coventry

Town boss Rob Edwards praised defender Gabe Osho for his efforts during the 1-1 draw at Coventry City on Saturday despite conceding a first half penalty.

The 24-year-old was brought in to play on the left side of Luton’s back three after an injury to Cody Drameh saw Amari’i Bell push forward and Alfie Doughty swap to the right hand side once more.

Bar one rash challenge that saw him fortunately escape a booking in the early stages, Osho had started the contest well, impressing in possession as Town looked good when working the ball into attacking areas.

However, just before the break, Town were caught out by a diagonal pass into the area, Viktor Gyokeres getting in front of the former Reading youngster to reach Matty Godden’s cross and go over for a penalty.

It looked like a third red card of the season might follow for Osho, only for referee Stephen Martin, who clearly enjoyed blowing for the actual spot-kick, to show leniency and administer a mere caution.

On the incident, Edwards said: “The lads didn’t have too many complaints when I asked them on the bench behind me.

“The only thing is the diagonal, can we recover quickly so we’re in a better position, that’s the only thing from that one.

“That was a moment that could have happened to anyone, but I thought he played really well today, Gabe.

"He was aggressive, on the front foot, against good players and we know he can do that.

"Then we’ve got Pottsy (Dan Potts) and Sonny (Bradley) who won’t be too long now to add to those numbers in that position, so we’ll be all right.”

Having been booked, along with Reece Burke in the first period, Osho, who made five successful clearances, with two tackles, once interception and one blocked shot, did well to remain in control and stay out of trouble after the break, meaning Luton kept a full complement of players for the entire 90 minutes.

It wasn’t the same for the Sky Blues, who had Manchester City youngster Josh Wilson-Esbrand dismissed late on for two quickfire yellows, as Edwards continued: “We made a big point of that at half time, making sure (they were sensible), and they did.

"They were very diligent in their defending, controlled, second half.

"You look at Coventry’s stats and they’re an aggressive, pressing team.

"They’ve got good footballers, they can mix it well as well, go into the front two, Gyokeres, they can play into 10s if they want to play that.

“It was two strikers today, but they've got a real clear way of playing.

"You’ve got to go after them, so we did, we tried to press and work hard, they did the same.

"It did make for an entertaining game, not that enjoyable when it’s so close on the touchline for me, but I saw lots of positives.”