Hatters striker Collins remaining confident as Luton enter a run of 'must-win' games

Luton striker James Collins is confident that the Hatters can make the most of a period of matches he has described as ‘must-win’ for the club.

Town recently went on a run of four away games in a row which saw them head to Bournemouth, Brentford and Blackburn Rovers, while also visiting Premier League side Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Although they took just three points, the Hatters impressed in each contest, and could arguably have left with a greater haul to their name.

On paper, Town’s next run of matches look easier though, as they started with a 1-1 draw against Huddersfield on Saturday.

Luton now go to third bottom Birmingham City this weekend, and host Cardiff City, who are three points ahead of the Hatters in 11th.

Town then head to play-off chasing Stoke City, with home games against mid-table Millwall and relegation threatened Sheffield Wednesday to finish the month, with Collins hoping they will have moved further away from drop zone they are now just six points clear of.

He said: “Our next three or four games are all against teams that are in and around us so we know it’s going to be tough but we know that some of them are must-win games as well.

“We’re ready for that, we’ve got another full week to prepare for that game and we go away against a good Blues team.

“I think we’ll be confident as our performances are quite good at the minute.”

Looking further ahead, Luton have six out of the next 10 games at Kenilworth Road, including three in a row during March, with Rotherham, Swansea and Coventry all visiting.

Collins knows putting a strong home run together will be crucial to avoid a nervous conclusion to the campaign, saying: “It is really important, we love playing here, it’s a shame that the fans aren’t in as we love playing in front of them as well.

“Our home form has got to be spot on this year and we know that.

“I think our form has been quite good at home, so we need to make sure we pick up points on the road as well.”

Although Town head to Birmingham this weekend on the back of a 1-1 draw, Collins felt it should have been more, after his early goal was cancelled out with 15 minutes remaining.

He added: “We’re disappointed in there that we didn’t win the game.

“We had more chances to win the game, especially the one before half time where we hit the post. If that goes in, we’re 2-0 up at half time and we’d like to think we’d see it out.

“They put us under a bit of pressure in the second half and in the end I’d say a draw was probably the fair result, but we’re still disappointed we didn’t win the game.

"Our performances this season have shown we’re more than capable to match anyone in this league, we’ve beaten some of the best that are right up there.

"We saw it as an opportunity to make ground in the league and we’re really disappointed we didn’t get all three points."