Luton chief has no issues with his players getting 'swept away' by a 'wild' Kenilworth Road crowd

Hatters boss Rob Edwards has no problems with his players getting swept away by what he hopes is a ‘wild’ Kenilworth Road crowd when Town host Sunderland in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final this evening.

The home side will need to turn round a 2-1 deficit from the first leg at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, with Luton's manager already calling on supporters to take the decibel levels up a notch or two from their efforts against fiercest rivals Watford during their 2-0 derby day win last month.

Having witnessed just how the Black Cats players reacted to having 45,000 supporters well and truly on their side at the weekend, creating a near deafening noise at times, Edwards wants his Luton squad to make the best use of those tables being turned in Bedfordshire.

He said: “I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with getting swept away in a really unbelievable atmosphere and occasion, why not?

"Let's let it carry us and help us.

"We’ve got to use that, as we want the crowd to be wild and we want the crowd to be right at it.

"Theirs was on the weekend, it was a really brilliant atmosphere.

"I know they have a lot of fans and they turn out in their numbers, but I'm not sure if it's been that good for a long, long time.

“We can do noise at Kenilworth Road and we’re going to need to, we need to bring that.

"They (Sunderland) were well up for it, I know our lot will be up for it.

"We’ve got to make it really, really difficult for them, we need the crowd to play their part as well.

"We want to then make sure we play our part, and give our fans something to shout about."

With Luton now knowing just what they need to do to reach Wembley, as anything other than a victory on the night will see them knocked out at this stage for a second season running, Edwards believes it will focus the minds on the job in hand.

He continued: “We want to attack the game.

"We know we have to win it to stand any chance of going through, so it’s pretty easy for us.

"Our task is very similar to a normal league game, we want to try and attack it and win the game.

"Obviously now this is a bit of a final if you like, because there’s something at the end of it.

"It’s half time, I’ve got to stress that.

"We’re right in the game, everyone knows that, it’s 2-1, 90 minutes at least of football to go, so we need everyone behind us for the whole duration of the game.

"The lads will give everything, we know that.”

It won't be easy for the Hatters though as Sunderland’s away form has been excellent in recent weeks, Tony Mowbray’s team unbeaten in five, four wins and a draw.

However Luton’s record at home is equally impressive, seven without defeat, including five victories, as Edwards said: “It suggests it could be a tight game, and it suggests to me the physicality stuff doesn’t really matter.

"They can battle, they can dig in if they have to away from home but we have to try and give them the game that they don’t want.”

With that in mind, then Edwards knows the first goal is even more vital, adding: “It’s important, but we’ve been very good at getting the first goal this season, probably as good as anyone in the league at getting the first goal.

"I suppose the more first goals you do get, you can get pegged back a little bit more than other teams as well, which happened on Saturday.

"In this particular game now, getting the first goal will level the tie up and then it’s back in the balance completely, so it will be important.

"It’s not the be-all and end-all, you can come back from two-down as well and you’ve got to keep believing right until the very end, but the first goal will obviously be key.”