Former England cricket captain Alastair Cook thrilled to witness a 'superb' Hatters win over Black Cats

A hoarse former England cricket captain Alastair Cook and Hatters fan declared Luton were simply ‘superb’ during their 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Tuesday night.

The 38-year-old Essex batsman, who holds the record for the most Test runs scored by an Englishman, was at Kenilworth Road in midweek to cheer his side on during their play-off second leg clash which saw Town triumph 3-2 on aggregate and now head to Wembley for a shot at the Premier League later this month.

Interviewed on Sky Sports after the game, Cook, who had been losing his voice during the contest, said: “As you can hear by my voice it was (one of the best nights as a Luton fan), I've never heard an atmosphere like it.

"Kenilworth Road was absolutely fantastic, the players were superb and I'm just so pleased I was lucky enough to be here.

"I've kind of married into Luton, my wife's family are huge Luton fans.

"I was actually with their grandad yesterday and he was talking about when Joe Payne got 10 goals here, same ground, 1936, he's been coming since then, so I feel like I've just jumped in in the good times.

"But I was here when we were in the Conference, supporting away and just to see this after 10 years has been absolutely fantastic.,

"I'm just so glad I can see it and the players were superb tonight.”

Asked just what a job that manager Rob Edwards has done since taking over from Nathan Jones in November, Cook added: “I’m going to sound like I know what I’m talking about now, but everyone was (worried).

"He did such a good job Nathan and got the club playing football and you're always worried, but to be fair to Rob Edwards, he's taken it on to another level.

"Being in professional sport, it was such a big game, and they just stuck to their task, this is how we're going to play and they just were relentless.

"Sunderland are a great side, but with the crowd behind them they never looked like they were going to score really.

"You can hear the crowd how happy they were.

"Any success story just gets supporters happy and gets the community together, there'll be a fair few buses and coaches going down to Wembley to support a great team and a great season.

“Hopefully we can finish it off.”