In-form Adebayo reaping the rewards for never once downing tools during spell out of Hatters XI

Striker Elijah Adebayo believes he is getting his rewards for never once feeling sorry for himself during a spell out of Town’s XI in the early stages of the Premier League campaign.

Having begun just four of the Hatters’ 14 opening top flight matches, the 25-year-old was then recalled for the 4-3 defeat against Arsenal, on target when he outjumped goalkeeper David Raya to draw the hosts level early in the second half. Adebayo followed that up by finding the net against Manchester City, also on the scoresheet when another of the supposed big six sides were in town at the weekend, volleying home as Luton were edged out 3-2 by Chelsea at Kenilworth Road.

It means he now has five goals for the season, with three of them coming from his last five outings, all from the start, as on how things have gone personally for him, Adebayo said: “It was tough for me, but that’s the nature of the game. You’ve got to bide your time when you’re not in the team, you’ve got to train hard, train well every day and keep going. There’s no time to down tools or feel sorry for yourself as this is a team game at the end of the day and we all want to do well as a football club. So for me, it’s good individually, but at the same time, I probably would have preferred at least a point, if not all three.”

Adebayo has carried on his impressive record of scoring inside the penalty area for the Hatters at the weekend, reacting quickest once Alfie Doughty’s header had been parried by Blues stopper Djordje Petrovic. He also had a goal disallowed when wingback Doughty was adjudged offside, going on to nod Chiedozie Ogbene’s cross against the bar, before eventually finding the net.

It means he is now halfway to last season’s tally of 10 in all competitions, but on what the difference is trying to find the net in the top tier, he continued: “You’ve got to be patient. In this league the chances don’t come as much as they would in the Championship and it’s just about being patient. Keep getting in the right areas, keep following in and eventually one will fall for you.

"Luckily one did, I could have had a couple more, I hit the bar, but it’s tough up there. We know it’s going to be tough, whether it’s me, Carlton (Morris), Cauley (Woodrow), we’ve just got to be patient. Keep getting in the right areas, keep thinking it’s going to come and then take your opportunity when it does.”

Despite Adebayo’s goal making it 3-2, the Hatters couldn’t quite beat Petrovic again to rescue what would have been a stunning point from what was looking a rather forlorn position, trailing by three goals with just 10 minutes to go. On the contest, the forward added: “The first half was very, very tough, we tried to cause the chaos that we wanted but we just couldn’t quite get it right.

"Then when we had the territory, I think the final ball was lacking, there wasn’t enough quality from our perspective. Second half it was completely different. The boys were fantastic, kept on going, even when we were 3-0 down. We just knew that if we get the next goal, who knows what can happen and then if you get another goal, it’s almost one-way traffic at the end and you’re just hoping for one more chance.

"Unfortunately it didn’t come, but I’m incredibly proud of the boys to run another of the so-called big clubs very, very close. The boys don’t give up, we kept pushing them until the end and to get back to 3-2 is incredible. Then we have the ascendancy and it looked like there was only one team going to get back into it. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, everyone was fantastic, but it’s just that final bit. Once we get that final bit we’ll be all right, but we pushed another top team very, very close.”