Town striker Collins looking for some revenge over Reading after 5-0 defeat last season

Luton striker James Collins is looking to gain a slice of revenge over Reading for their thumping 5-0 win at Kenilworth Road last season when the two teams meet this evening.

Back in July, the Hatters were handed an almighty hammering by the Royals as Yakou Meite scored four times, a result that looked like it would mean curtains for the Hatters' chance of staying in the division.

However, Luton didn't lose again after the humiliating reverse though, boss Nathan Jones masterminding a wonderful revival that saw Town eventually stay up.

This term, the Hatters were beaten once again by their opponents, going down 2-1 at the Madejski Stadium on Boxing Day, producing one of their poorest displays of the season on the road.

Although Jones' side have won both cup games this season, recording 1-0 successes, they have only triumphed once in their last seven league matches against their Berkshire opponents, that a 3-2 second tier success in 2006.

Ahead of the contest, Collins said: "Our record against Reading isn't great, they beat us five here last year, so we’ve got something to prove on that front.

"They’re another great side and they’re pushing for the play-offs, so you’d expect them to be right at it.

"We need to make sure we do everything right and go into that game with the same attitude we did today (Saturday, 1-0 win over Watford).

"We’ve got five games left and we go into every game wanting to win them all.

"No footballer likes losing games, so if we can show that performance like we did today and that mentality to go and get three points, then who knows where it will take us."

Town's record against the top seven sides this term has been fairly good, with wins over Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford and Barnsley, so that should stand them in good stead according to Collins, who continued: "We’ve beaten a lot of the teams in that top six and maybe should have beaten Swansea as well as we played really well twice against them.

"That can only give us confidence as a team, it shows we’re only going in the right direction, as we have beaten those teams.

"We’re not a million miles away from the play-offs and we are safe, so I think that does give us a lot of confidence moving forward definitely for next year."

With Luton closing in on their best second tier points tally for over 15 years, reaching 61 points in the 2005-06 campaign, on why Town's top scorer thinks it he been such a successful season compared to last year's battle with relegation, Collins added: "Since the gaffer came in with nine games to go, we had such a good run until the end of the season and you carry that on all the way through, with a few additions of course.

"That momentum keeps going, we had a great start to the season as well, but I think we’ve been really quite consistent this year.

"It’s really pleasing to be safe already. To do that with five games to go after the situation we were in last year is brilliant and credit to everyone at the football club.

"We are where we are for a reason and I think we thoroughly deserve it."