Luton boss Edwards urges Hatters fans to make Kenilworth Road 'lively' in the play-offs

Luton boss Rob Edwards has called on Town's supporters to make it ‘lively’ when they are back at Kenilworth Road for the second leg of their play-off contest next month.

With the Hatters having their regular season extended by two, hopefully three games, following Sheffield United clinching the second automatic promotion spot by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 last night, it means that following a trip to Blackburn Rovers and home match with Hull City, Town will take on either the fifth or sixth placed side in the Championship, depending on where they finish, on home soil on either May 16/17.

Edwards has seen Luton turn their difficult form in front of their own fans around quite dramatically since taking over, with eight wins from 11, including five victories in a row following Monday night’s 2-1 success over Middlesbrough.

The home supporters had been fairly quiet during a first half in which Boro dominated, coming to life after the break, especially once Tom Lockyer had headed the Hatters level early on.

With that in mind, then speaking after the match, Edwards said of the Town faithful: “We keep saying it, we need them.

"We’re not going to be at our best every time and we need them.

"The next time we’re here at night will be a play-off game and I want it lively, we’re going to need it lively for the full 90-odd minutes or whatever it’s going to take.

"They certainly got going when the goal went in, and of course it’s a two-way street, we’ve got to make sure we give them something to shout about.

“They’ve been amazing for us this year and they really do make a difference when they’re at it.

"It makes it a really tough place to play for opposition teams.

"We're on a really good run here now, I’m not sure how many games that is in a row that we’ve won here, but it’s a few, so we’ve got to keep it really difficult for opposition teams to come here.”

After making it 12 matches in a row unbeaten anywhere in the Championship, when it was put to him that no team would fancy going up against the Hatters for a chance to reach the Premier League, Edwards continued: “That’s not for me to say.

"I don’t know what people are thinking outside of this club, all I care about is trying to win the next game and we’ll just keep trying to do that.”

Meanwhile, with Luton now facing two games that have very little on them bar deciding whether Town will be third or fourth in the table, Edwards knows it’s a strange situation to be in.

He added: "Psychologically the games are quite difficult, the next couple of games as well.

"We've got to try and keep that momentum.

"We want to keep trying to win, but when those play-off games come, there will be I'm sure another percent or two and it's really difficult.

"Subconsciously, or no matter what you talk about and how we try and drive it, there is an element of 'okay, but we know what's coming in a few weeks' time'.

"But look, I can sit here and say we could have done that better or we could have done that better, but we've won the game - and I think that's probably a good place to be in."