Woodrow reveals he broke his hand before scoring Luton's injury time winner

Luton striker Cauley Woodrow revealed that he broke his hand just prior to scoring the stoppage time winner at Everton in the Hatters’ FA Cup fourth round success at Goodison Park yesterday.

The forward was introduced by manager Rob Edwards as part of a triple substitution with 66 minutes gone, replacing Elijah Adebayo, getting his longest run-out since the 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Exeter City back in September of last year. Having led a few charges on the right hand side, Woodrow was then involved in a collision with Everton defender James Tarkowski which saw him require some hasty treatment from the Town medics, returning to the field with a bandaged hand.

With neither manager wanting a replay, a hectic final moments saw both sides trying to grab a winner, Luton winning a corner in the last seconds of the five added minutes. Luke Berry took it and after Carlton Morris was involved, the ball dropped to Woodrow, who was able to react quickest, poking the ball over the line to make it 2-1 to the Hatters and send them through to the fifth round, sparking scenes of massed jubilation among the travelling supporters.

It emerged afterwards that Woodrow had actually suffered a broken bone to his hand, saying: “Just 10 minutes before the goal I fell on the floor with Tarkowski and fell on it. I just felt it crack and thought ‘oh no, I’ve definitely broken my hand there.’ But to get a goal, I'll take a broken hand. It’s hurting quite a bit, I’ve had a couple of codeines, but it’s all right. I was in a bit of shock for a while, but I’m happy.”

Woodrow was on target to net a first strike since the 3-2 Carabao Cup victory over Gillingham in late August, as on his fifth goal since returning to Kenilworth Road in the summer of 2022, the forward added: “I don’t really remember much. Carlton Morris flicked the ball on, it just fell to me and I managed to tap it in. I’m absolutely delighted as it was a tough game, so for us to come out on top was really pleasing.

“You need a little bit of luck and thankfully today I got that little bit of luck. Thankfully it did fall to me and I put it in, so I'm over the moon, really happy. To get it in the dying moments was amazing as to get an important goal and take us through to the next round, I'm delighted.”