Red Devils boss Ten Hag vows United won't underestimate a Luton side he has huge 'respect' for

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag won’t be preparing his side any differently when heading to Luton on Sunday, a side he declared he had plenty of ‘respect’ for following their recent run of impressive results.

The Hatters welcome the Red Devils for a first league match since drawing 1-1 with their opponents over 30 years ago, in the 1991-92 season, when current head of recruitment Mick Harford was on target for the hosts. Although Town lost out 3-1 to bottom side Sheffield United on Saturday, they have run all of the top sides incredibly close at Kenilworth Road, holding Liverpool 1-1 and only beaten by a single goal when facing Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea.

Since going down 1-0 at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture on November 11, Luton have picked up dramatically, winning four and drawing two of their last 11 Premier League fixtures to climb out of the bottom three, scoring in each fixture, with 23 hitting the opposition’s net, although they have also conceded 23 as well. United, meanwhile, have won six out of 12, with two draws and four defeats, as they have dropped to six points behind the top four, although did manage to close that gap to by beating Aston Villa 2-1 last weekend to make it a run of three consecutive triumphs,

Asked if he would have to let his players know what they were in for when heading to a stadium like no other in the top flight, ten Hag quipped: "The pitch, is it smaller or longer? Is it not 11 v 11? No referees are coming? No, every ambiance is different, that is what I want to say and we have to deal with the circumstances and it’s about playing football, 11 against 11 on the pitch, with referees.

"We have to make it our game as it doesn’t matter who you face, if you play the best or the worst, or in between, it doesn’t matter. We respect every opposition, definitely. We are not in a position to underestimate any opponent and we will not do. We have to play our best, because we have seen their performances across the season, very good, especially the last weeks. They are really improving, so I’ve a lot of respect for this team and we have to play our best football.”