Rob Edwards hails ‘really important’ three points after Luton beat Swansea

Posted Sunday, March 05, 2023 by PA

Luton boss Rob Edwards felt it was a vital three points picked up by his play-off chasing side during a 1-0 victory against Swansea.

The hosts claimed all three points courtesy of Carlton Morris’s 14th goal of the season in the 39th minute, to climb up to fifth in the Championship.

Edwards said: “I know it was a really important three points, any three points at this stage of the season are really key.

“But after the week we’ve had, backing up the four points that we got from the Saturday and Tuesday, we put the pressure on the lads a little bit, ‘we’ve got to find a way to win this game’, and they did.

“I felt like we lacked a little bit of that energy and that intensity in the first 20-25 minutes, I’m trying to roar on from the sidelines, but it’s difficult to have an influence.

“When we played with a little bit more intensity and played forward and ran forward, got some action going, then we lifted the crowd a bit and then we did start getting some chances towards the end of that first half.

“I thought we deserved the goal, a bit disappointed we couldn’t go on and get that second.

“They made one or two tweaks and began to get a little bit more control, we retained a threat on the counter-attacks as the game wore on, but we weren’t able to press with the same intensity as we’ve been able to do in recent weeks.

“But that’s fine, you’ve got to solve problems and we got over the line.”

The first period saw Luton go close through Morris’s header which was saved by Andy Fisher, while Gabe Osho blazed over, before Morris had his goal from a matter of yards when Fisher could not hold Alfie Doughty’s cross.

After the break, Swansea improved, Oli Cooper scooping over, and sub Liam Cullen having a goal disallowed for offside.

Allan Campbell nearly made it 2-0, his header well saved, before Swans boss Russell Martin and Town assistant Richie Kyle were sent off for an altercation on the touchline in stoppage time.

Martin said: “I’m watching the action at the end, Rob’s jumped on the pitch, I told him to get off the pitch.

“I really like Rob, he’s an ex-team-mate of mine, and then Richie got involved, so I sort of nudged him and pushed him away really, to get out of the way and not create that.

“Then it ended up in two red cards which I’m not convinced are necessary really but it was what it is.

“Second half, we changed formation and I liked the performance, the energy, the intensity, the fight, the aggressive mentality of the players with and without the ball.

“We didn’t quite make enough clear-cut chances with that, but we scored a good goal which was onside, gets disallowed, which is really frustrating.

“I can accept defeat if we show that fight, show that mentality, show that togetherness and show that energy and the courage to play, which they did on a really difficult pitch in the second half.

“I loved that, so we need more of that.

“The fans’ energy was excellent, they were brilliant, so we’re disappointed we haven’t got something from the game but the performance has energised me, especially second half.”