Luton Town welcome Nottingham Forest to Kenilworth Road this Good Friday with an eye on resurrecting their playoff hopes over the Easter period following a recent disappointing run of results.
The Hatters, struggling for a win since the international break have not been helped by a crippling injury list that only got worse at The John Smith’s Stadium in their 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield. With injuries to midfielder’s Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and former Forest skipper Henri Lansbury their latest concerns, Jones is almost down to the bare bones in key areas.
Given their dip in results and casualties sustained, Good Friday’s fixture against inform Forest is going to demand a major effort to get them back on track as playoff contenders.
There is no doubting that Nathan Jones has already pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat this season as his Luton side have blown away expectations to find themselves nestled firmly in the thick of the playoff race.
Following their convincing 3-1 win at Hull before the international break, The Hatters have stuttered with an injury time equalizer salvaging a point in the 2-2 home draw against Millwall whilst Johnson Clarke-Harris’ 87th minute equaliser for Peterborough put a further stick in the spokes that has threatened to derail their aspirations.
Captain Sonny Bradley is keen to put the Huddersfield defeat behind them and get on with the task in hand, reserving special mention to top scorer with Elijah Adebayo who missed a penalty with the game still in their grasp at 1-0.
“Elijah is a brilliant character, he has a great attitude. He’s a top striker who wants to score goals and I had a quiet word with him (after Huddersfield defeat). Kal Naismith and the manager said the same to him:
“You’re one of the best strikers in the division, this is the Championship and it’s a tough division. You have proven this season you are a real handful.”
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