Former Hatters will look to haunt their old side says Brabin

With mid-table Kettering having neither the play-offs or relegation on their radar Brabin believes that a chance to put one over their former employers could be one of the major motivating factors for the Poppies.

He said: “You can’t help but remember your time when you come to a club like Luton Town and I’m sure those lads will be relishing it.

“They’ve got some players coming back to the club and I’m sure they will be up for it and get their team-mates up for it.

“I’m sure it will be a real good dogged fight and they have nothing to lose.”

And he also praised the job new Kettering boss Marcus Law has done at stabilising the club.

Brabin said: “He has done well since he has been there. I think he has certainly steadied the ship.

“There’s been a lot of upheaval at the club. They have had some really good and really surprising results.

“There are no easy games in this league. I just want us to concentrate on ourselves.”

The Hatters have a substantial injury list, with Danny Crow having been added to it after suffering a potentially season-threatening injury in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at play-off-chasing Kidderminster Harriers.

Full-backs Freddie Murray and Dan Gleeson are also doubts as Brabin looks to manage his squad as best he can.

Brabin said: “Freddie has had a little bit of a trouble with his hamstring.

“He wants to play and hamstrings are very funny things.

“We want to get him back and involved as soon as possible.”

He was withdrawn early in the first half on Saturday, with Brabin saying: “We’ve taken him off straight away because we don’t want it to get any worse.

“It’s something we are monitoring but it hasn’t got any worse.

“We’ve got one or two in a similar situation, at the moment we have to be mindful of.

“We need this group of players fit and playing to their full potential.

“I’ve got to be mindful of the players who have play a lot of games and are carrying knocks.

“I’ve got to shuffle the pack accordingly.

“It’s just a couple of little knocks. There’s one or two players that have missed certain games and we are having to manage that a little bit.

“I want to try and get people 100 per cent fit and firing on all cylinders.

“Dan Gleeson has a bit of a knee injury.

“He came back Saturday and we’ve got to monitor that as well.

“There’s certainly little things we’ve got to monitor. We’ve got a good bunch of players here.”

But he was happy overall with Town’s performance at the weekend, especially in the second half, and is looking for more of the same.

Brabin said: “We’ve tried to be brave in the last couple of games in terms of putting a bit more trust and emphasis on the back four.

“Being a little bit braver, especially from an attacking point of view which I thought we did exceptionally second half against Kettering.

“I thought we had a lot of good possession (first half) and just wanted a little more tempo from them and end product. I thought the response in the second half was fantastic.

“We made some individual mistakes. We only got a point but I’m more than confident with the quality of players we’ve got we will cut down on those mistakes.

“Coming off the last game we’ve got out attacking players in form now and hopefully we will carry it into this game.”

And he admitted that taking the Hatters hotseat has proved to be a real whirlwind experience.

Brabin continued: “In terms of a week it’s been a real whirlwind week.

“It probably has flown over a little bit with the activeness of the two games and organising things in training. It has been a bit of a whirlwind week but I’m enjoying it.”

But he is fully focused on winning tomorrow night’s game and cementing Town’s play-off position.

Brabin said: “We’ve just got to keep winning games.

“That’s what I want to do. I don’t want to be going into these last few games relying on other teams.

“I just want to win every game we can and do it in the right manner.

“All we can do is look after our own house and go into tomorrow’s game fully focused on that.”

Brabin revealed he had already decided on his strike partnership for tomorrow’s game, even before the injury to Crow.

And that could be one of several changes he makes for the Kettering game.

He said: “I had decided on my pairing before the injury to Danny Crow and I will have to adjust that a little bit.

“There’s a reason behind some of my selections, be it taking precautions with injury or getting players involved who haven’t played as much football.

“I’m going to look at the walking wounded, assess a couple of them in the morning and take it from there.”

The encounter could prove to be an emotional one after the sudden death of popular BBC Three Counties commentator Ian Pearce last Tuesday, but Brabin was sure that situation wouldn’t affect them.

He said: “The lads are used to every single circumstance in football.

“They are a good bunch and whatever comes their way I’m sure they can deal with it.”

Kettering, meanwhile, have registered former QPR duo, midfielder Stefan Bailey, who also had a trial with Luton, and striker Keiron St Aimie, on non-contract terms.

Luke O’Neill has also extended his loan spell from Leicester until the end of the season, while striker Callum Wilson has returned to Coventry after a recent loan spell.

On Bailey, Law added: “He asked to train with us to see where it takes him.

“He got injured during the season and hasn’t been able to break back into Telford’s side.

“I told him the remit of the club and there’s certainly no financial reward for him but he’s keen to show his capabilities and impress myself with hopefully a view for next season.”