Hatters chief not concerned by pressure on Norwich boss Smith ahead of Boxing Day clash

Luton boss Rob Edwards wasn’t concerning himself with the pressure faced by Norwich City boss Dean Smith ahead of Town’s Championship clash against the promotion favourites at Kenilworth Road this evening.

The Canaries were hotly tipped to return to the Premier League this term and looked to be staking a claim with a run of six straight wins and seven from eight during the early stages of the season.

However three losses in a row, including being beaten 1-0 at home by Luton in October, saw Smith’s side go six games without a win, before results have been mixed ever since, three victories and two losses from their last six.

A 2-0 reverse to Blackburn Rovers last Saturday saw Norwich drop down to fifth in the table, trailing second-placed Sheffield United by nine points with half of the season gone, which led to a number of supporters calling for Smith to go during the fixture.

Speaking to Sky Sports News afterwards, the former Brentford and Aston Villa boss said: “I understand frustration and disappointment, but leave it until the end of the game, because otherwise it will just play havoc on players’ minds as well.

“There’s a lot of players out there that have won the title twice for this club and they probably don’t deserve some of the stick they got at times.

“I’ve always said, after the game, you channel your frustrations and we have to accept that.

“I think a lot of them have been waiting for this period to happen, or wanting it to – I don’t know.

“A narrative’s been set about it not being good football, despite us having the second or third highest shots in the league.

“Football’s about opinions and sometimes you can’t change that.

“Fortunately our next game’s away from home because you feel like we have to score two very quick goals at home to get people on our side at the moment."

However, Edwards wasn't reading anything into the problems in East Anglia, saying: “I’m not going to comment at all on their situation at the moment but I have a lot of respect for Dean Smith and everything that he’s done in the game.

"Norwich City as a football club is a very good club, they have fantastic players so we are well aware of how difficult a test it will be but it’s a game I think we all have to look forward to.

"What can be better? We all love our football at Christmas, Boxing Day under the lights.

"Norwich City coming here, I think it’s really exciting for us.

"Whoever it was going to be, we’re going to aim to make it as difficult as possible for them but they’re one of the top teams in the league so it’s a great challenge for us and one that we should really look forward to.”

With Luton being at home for the first time under Edwards, he is looking to engineer a maiden victory for himself at Kenilworth Road, and also a first for the Hatters in front of their own fans since October 15, having drawn their previous three matches.

The new chief added: “We will concentrate on ourselves and especially when we’re here at Kenilworth Road.

"We want to make it a really difficult place for anyone to come.

"We want everyone to feel that vulnerability when our fans are in full voice and we’re hopefully playing an aggressive style of football.

"We want to make it difficult for any team that comes here, and Norwich will be no different.

"We will respect them, of course we will, because they have good players and they’re a good team.

"But we’re going to have a right good go and we’re really looking forward to it.”