Luton chief Edwards surprised there wasn't more injury time added during Chelsea loss

Hatters boss Rob Edwards couldn’t understand why there hadn’t been longer than the six minutes of extra time added on during the end of this afternoon’s 3-2 defeat against Chelsea.

With Luton having played significantly longer in their matches against Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Liverpool in recent weeks, today’s game remained very much in the balance, Town having reduced a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 with three minutes to go. Although there was a VAR check to disallow Elijah Adebayo’s goal after the break, with five substitutes made by either side, and the visitors timewasting for large periods of the contest, none more so than Serbian keeper Djorđje Petrović, who somehow didn’t get a booking from referee Paul Tierney, plus the Chelsea players going to ground under minimal contact all game, the fourth officials’ board displayed a mere six.

Asked if he thought there would be more, Edwards said: “Yes, I was expecting a double figures today, I’ve got to be honest, just, I’m not going to comment on it, but yes.”

Although Town gave their all to try and hit back from conceding three goals in the opening 69 minutes, they couldn’t quite manage to, as their hopes of making it three straight victories were ended by Mauricio Pochettino’s side. The Hatters had enjoyed more possession throughout the contest and had more possession than their opponents, as asked how his players felt in the aftermath of the fixture, having run one of the traditional big six so close, Edwards added: “I think they’re disappointed as they know we were good enough to get something from it and we showed that.

"The performance was excellent, without the ball we were aggressive and brave, happy to go one v one in big spaces against top players. We knew at times there was a risk to that, but we thought the reward was bigger than the risk. That’s what suits us, it’s how we play. They’re going to get away, get through at times, but when we win it we’re dangerous as well.

"The players can see how we’re improving, they're on board and they'll be flat and disappointed as we've not got something from the game, but they'll see the growth in the team. They'll see how well we are doing, they'll see from game two (3-0 defeat to Chelsea in August) to now, there's been a huge leap in performance. The only way to get out of the position we’re in is by working really hard and continue to build and grow.

"But there’s a belief, they probably feel similar to me, after a good performance you can sleep a little bit easier, if it’s a poor performance and we’ve lost, you probably feel a bit worse.”