We added to our proud list of honours on Sunday as 34,000 Hatters fans witnessed Jack Wilshere’s side lift the Vertu Trophy at Wembley.
Wins at the national stadium should never be taken for granted and should, rightly, be savoured. Judging by the faces of the players, the staff, the board and the supporters – it certainly was. What a day.
But the time to celebrate it is now over. Forget El Hattico. Forget visions of Claude Gnakpa. Forget Nahki’s brace, or Sheasy’s save. Well, for now anyway.
Game faces are back on. The 46-game slog is almost over. Five games remain but the Town are now chasing the possibility of two or three more and a return to the scene of Sunday’s success.
Northampton are in town and stand in the Hatters’ way of closing the gap on the top six. A win would cut it to three with four to play.
Things are getting interesting now so let’s get into it, shall we?
Cobblers lose their footing
While points are imperative for Hatters, our visitors’ need is significantly greater. Northampton arrive at Kenilworth Road knowing nothing less than a win will see them relegated to League Two.
After last night’s results, Northampton dropped to the bottom of the table and their task of avoiding the drop is looking increasingly difficult: they are 15 points from safety with five games to play. It doesn’t need a GSCE in maths to work out what’s required.
After losing in the Vertu Trophy semi-final against the Hatters, the Cobblers parted with Kevin Nolan and installed Colin Calderwood in interim charge until the end of the season.
It fair to say Calderwood’s inherited a side low on confidence. Their run to the last four of the Vertu Trophy apart, 2026 has been a nightmare for the Cobblers. The stats make for pretty grim reading: one league win in 21, no win 11, losing the last six.
They quite simply need to win tonight – something they haven’t achieved since beating Stevenage on 7th February.
Haven’t we met before?
Well, we’ve already met twice this season, and the Town have run out winners on both occasions.
The first, back in October, was Jack Wilshere’s first victory in charge and the most recent saw the Hatters fight back to book their place at Wembley.
Colin Calderwood will be looking for his team to take inspiration from the Cobblers’ last league visit to Kenilworth Road that saw them win 4-3 back in December 2015 – that was Northampton’s third successive win over the Town at the time.
OTD
On this day in 2014 the Town were not in action but were celebrating anyway as, thanks to Kidderminster beating Cambridge, we celebrated promotion back to the Football League as Conference champions.
In terms of matchdays on this day, in 2023 goals from Carlton Morris and Cauley Woodrow earned us an important win at Rotherham and a year before, Kal Naismith was the coolest man inside Kenilworth Road as his penalty was enough to see off Nottingham Forest in a high-pressure home win.
Further back there was a forgettable goalless midweek draw at Blackpool in 1997 while a John Taylor goal earned the Town a rare point at Roker Park against Sunderland.
In 1989 goals from John Dreyer and Danny Wilson are on target in a 2-2 draw with Coventry in the top-flight at Kenilworth Road.
Team news
Josh Keeley is expected to return in goal following James Shea’s appearance in the Vertu Trophy final. The Hatters have no fresh injury or suspension worries following Sunday’s victory.
In charge
James Durkin takes charge of his first game involving the Hatters in his career. In the 29 games he’s had the whistle this season h’s shown 125 yellow cards and seven red cards. He’s refereed one game involving Northampton this term – the only game he did not show any cards.
Tickets, please
Big games under the lights at the Kenny are numbered. Power Court is coming. If you’re in the mood to experience it tonight, get your skates on. Book your tickets here before they’re all gone.
Get with the programme
We’ve added a few extra pages to tonight’s issue to celebrate Sunday’s win, so don’t forget to pick up your copy from our friendly sellers before kick-off.
David Wilkinson’s on boardroom notes duty, there are columns from Jack Wilshere, Kal Naismith and Under-18s boss Joe Deeney while the Supporters’ Trust also speak in depth with head of analysis Jack Lamb-Wilson. It’s well, well worth a read.
Tune in, turn on.
Simon Pitts will be, as ever, on the mic on LTFC+, back in the comfortable surroundings of the Kenilworth Road gantry this evening. They'll be no singing of the national anthem pre-match tonight, however.
If you’re overseas or can’t make it Kenilworth Road, you can watch live on LTFC+ for £10. Audio commentary is available in the UK and abroad and it’s just £2.50 for the pleasure. Clicking here gives you those possibilities.
You can also follow our social media channels for all the build up and live updates as they happen, plus photos and behind-the-scenes content during the 90 minutes. Stay on lutontown.co.uk post-match for a full report, post-match reaction and the all-important highlights.
And finally...don’t be THAT fan.
A reminder to all supporters, no matter who you are, how old or who you’re supporting, to go about your day with respect. We continue to support the Love Football, Protect the Game campaign.
Luton Town Football Club has committed in its customer charter to providing safe match-day experiences for all supporters regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, and this applies equally to home and away fixtures.
In the event that any Luton supporters do make discriminatory chants, the Club will work with the police and football authorities to help identify such individuals. Any such fans would then face the strictest club sanctions, including football banning orders that would prevent them attending any matches, in addition to any criminal charges.
Furthermore, we would like to warn against pitch incursions and the use of pyrotechnics or missiles – including any type of object that is thrown onto the pitch during a match – which could lead to potential prosecution.
The Club can also be held responsible for the behaviour of its supporters, which could lead to substantial fines being imposed.
As a diverse and inclusive football club, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellow EFL clubs in supporting the FA’s ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ campaign and call on all fans to enjoy the game in a positive spirit.
If you are offended by any discriminatory abuse of any kind at any of our games, you can report it by clicking HERE, or by contacting your nearest steward immediately.
Alternatively, email myvoice@lutontown.co.uk, or report the incident via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
We're all Luton.
Come on Luton!
What we’re liking this week
From all the content from Sunday, how about this?
