'One or two' out of contract at Luton but relaxed Edwards insists not too many Town players are in their final year

Luton boss Rob Edwards has declared himself ‘fairly comfortable’ regarding the contract situation of his players, insisting there aren’t too many in their final year as Town move into the second half of the Premier League season.

With a number of the Hatters squad, including Alfie Doughty, Gabe Osho and Teden Mengi, beginning to prove themselves more than capable at the highest level of English football, helping Luton make a real fist of staying up this term, it has led to speculation about just how long certain members have left on their deals, with fellow top flight teams understandably keeping tabs on some of Kenilworth Road’s most sought after talents. Town have made a policy of not publicly releasing the length of contracts signed for a good few years now, so concrete details remain sketchy, but despite that, Edwards was in a relaxed mood, preferring to get the transfer window done and dusted before turning his attention to the future.

He said: “I don’t think we’ve got too many that will be out of contract. There’ll be one or two, but I think pretty much everyone is fairly comfortable with where they’re at and where they fit at the moment. It won’t be something that we’re worrying about addressing right now, the important thing is we get January out of the way and making sure we’re in a strong position when we come out of the month. Once we get into February, March-time we can really start assessing where everyone’s at contract-wise and what we do going forward.

"The big thing I always say is that I’ll always try and be very honest with players and make sure that we give everyone as much time as possible to prepare. We give people as much time as possible to try and negotiate a new contract here if that’s what we see is the right thing, but we’re not in a position at the moment where there’s too many that are going into their final years.”

One player who has been a constant matter of interest was star midfielder Ross Barkley after he joined on a free transfer in the summer having left French side Nice. It was thought by some that the England international, who has been in sensational form recently, had signed a short term deal with the Hatters, but although Edwards wouldn’t divulge specifics about the former Everton and Chelsea player, he did say: “It’s more than one, it’s less than four, so have a look around that area.”

With Luton in FA Cup fourth round action at Everton this weekend, they don’t get back to Premier League until Tuesday evening when hosting Brighton & Hove Albion at Kenilworth Road. Town have 18 matches left to try and ensure they have a second campaign at this level, sitting third from bottom in the table but within touching distance of both Everton and Nottingham Forest, whom they have a game in hand over.

Both could face points deductions in the coming weeks too for breaching profit and sustainability rules, as Edwards insists his team have given themselves a real opportunity of staying up, adding: “We have got a fighting chance, it’s a fact. I think we’re performing really well, I think we’re in good form, I don’t think anyone can deny that and we are getting points as well. The last four league games we’ve got points in three of them and performed well, so of course we’ve got a fighting chance.

“We all want to try and stay in the league, I think we’ve got quite a bit of credit in the bank here, so I don’t feel that we’re under any sort of big, big pressure from the powers that be. I think there’s a real belief at this place that we can achieve something really, really special. Maybe one or two people are starting to see that as well, but in the end it doesn’t really matter, we’ve got to get the results to do that ourselves.”