Luton suffered a defeat in new manager Rob Edwards’ first game in charge with a 2-1 loss at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The Hatters had led through Jordan Clark’s wonderful 33rd minute strike, only to see Chuba Akpom quickly restore parity and then Matt Crooks win it in stoppage time after Amari’i Bell had been sent off.
To find out how Town’s players rated on the afternoon, see below.
1. Ethan Horvath: 6
Back from World Cup duty, but not a great deal to do in the first half other than pick Akpom’s header out of the net as Boro were kept at arm’s length. One good piece of handling from Watmore’s low drive after the break, it looked like Town’s defence would hang on for a point when Crooks missed, only for the sub to make amends from close range. Photo: Justin Setterfield
2. James Bree: 6
Was able to move out to a wingback role again but the majority of Town’s best moments came down the visitors’ left in the first half. Couldn’t get over quickly enough to prevent Giles from picking out Akpom to level just minutes after Luton had taken the lead. Looked secure for most of the second period, before Boro won it, as he was booked for his protests to Bell’s red card as well. Photo: Liam Smith
3. Gabe Osho: 6
Kept his place in the back three as Luton have precious few defensive options at the moment and wasn’t doing a great deal wrong as Luton looked fairly assured until Akpom escaped their attentions to level. Solid enough after the break too, doing just enough to put off Akpom from making it 2-1, but when Town went down 10, they just couldn’t hang on. Photo: George Wood
4. Tom Lockyer: 6.5
One of two who were back from a spell out in Qatar as he looked to adapt to the drop in temperature when running out at the Riverside. Got stuck into the task well, as after the break he had a running battle with the Boro forwards, words exchanged by both parties. Should have put the Hatters 2-1 ahead just after the break, volleying wide when completely unmarked, as Crooks showed him how it was done in stoppage time. Photo: Liam Smith