Hatters cut the gap to safety as the Championship relegation battle hots up

Luton's players celebrate winning 1-0 at Swansea City

Luton are now just three points away from safety in the Championship after the latest round of matches this weekend.

The Hatters claimed a superb away win at Swansea City during yesterday's lunchtime kick-off, James Collins' 12th goal of the season claiming victory and moving Town on to 39 points.

They leapfrogged Barnsley, who were held to a goalless draw at home by Millwall, while third bottom Huddersfield dropped into the bottom three after losing 3-1 at Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

Hull City let a 2-0 and 3-2 lead slip to draw 3-3 at Birmingham but did climb out of the bottom three on goals scored, as they are level on points with Huddersfield (42), three more than Luton, but with a far superior goal difference.

Stoke are fifth bottom, on 43 points, after they went down 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers Middlesrough, with Neil Warnock getting his managerial reign off to a winning start, moving to sixth bottom on 44 points.

Charlton and Wigan both boosted their chances of survival, the Addicks defeating QPR 1-0 and Paul Cook's Latics side triumphing 2-0 over Blackburn to move on to 45 and 47 points respectively.

However, Town chief Nathan Jones still wasn't worried about other sides, knowing the Hatters have a job of their own to do first, saying: "I’m not being coy, we’ve got to get to a points tally and if we get to a points tally, we’ll have a chance of staying up.

"Everyone's playing each other, we have to win games to give ourselves a chance, if we don’t win games, if we don’t put in performances then we won't.

“It’s not in our own hands at the minutes, what we want to do is keep getting results so eventually it’s in our own hands.

"Everyone has to play each other, not everyone can get to that points tally, if we do it, that’s fine.

“There’s no point worrying about it now, we can't do anything.

"We've got a month of real nail-biting, joyriding, roller-coasting just hard work to go, but let's enjoy this at the minute."

Luton are back in action on Tuesday night, travelling to leaders Leeds United, while Barnsley host Blackburn, Charlton visit Cardiff and Wigan host Stoke.

Wednesday sees Huddersfield Town go to Birmingham, while Hull entertain Middlesbrough on Thursday.