BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) – Luton Town suffered a tough return to the top flight of English football as they were defeated 4-1 by Brighton & Hove Albion, according to manager Rob Edwards. It was Luton’s first appearance in the top division in 31 years, and while their surprise success in the Championship playoffs in May raised hopes, many pundits predict a difficult season for them.
Edwards acknowledged that Luton played a part in their own downfall after only trailing by one goal at halftime. He said, “I thought we were right in the game at 1-0 and 2-1, but we shot ourselves in the foot. I thought we competed well. The third goal killed us off and we had a lot of opportunities to clear the ball. We didn’t take them and that shows the ruthless nature of the league.”
Despite the defeat, Edwards highlighted the positive aspects of Luton’s performance in the first half. He noted, “In the first half I thought we were solid, compact and aggressive where we needed to be and we retained a counter-attacking threat.”
Luton found themselves 2-0 down after conceding a penalty with 20 minutes remaining. Edwards expressed his view on the decision, saying, “I thought it was a bit soft but at 2-0 you’re thinking ‘OK, we’re in it but we need to find a way back in’. We found a way, made some aggressive changes and then disappointed to concede the third.”
However, Luton managed to pull one back through a penalty of their own, though it also seemed debatable. Carlton Morris converted the penalty, reducing the deficit, but Luton appeared fatigued by their efforts.
Edwards concluded, “Then they smelled blood and we are trying to find a balance of getting back in the game and still defending. Teams at this level will be ruthless. They deserved to win. But I’m proud of the players, we can take some positives, and we will get better. We caused our own problems. There were details we don’t normally get wrong. We need to learn quickly. When we have those counter-attacks we need to be more ruthless. We got in great areas and could have got more.”
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Credit: The Star : Sport Feed
