On a cold and icy night at Kenilworth Road, Luton secured a televised game against Liverpool in the third round of the F.A. Cup thanks to Calvin Andrew's second half header.

Luton had made two changes to their starting line-up from the side that had faced Oldham seven days before. Darren Currie replaced the suspended Paul Furlong and Matthew Spring was named in midfield instead of cup tied Marc Wilson.

Meanwhile opponents Nottingham Forest had also made a couple of changes from their side which had beaten Brighton 2-0 in their last league outing, Neil Lennon came in for the suspended Sammy Clingan, who had been sent off towards the end of that match. Striker Junior Agogo dropped down to the bench, making way for James Perch to appear in the starting eleven.

With so much at stake it was little surprise that the early stages of the match were quite tight, with little in the way of goalmouth action as both sides looked to impose themselves on the game.

A driving run from deep by David Bell forced the first save of the game from Paul Smith after seven minutes. The Hatters midfielder picked the ball up and with space in front of him ran at Matt Lockwood, before trying his luck with a low shot from outside the box but the Forest number one proved equal to his effort.

A powerful defensive header from Jaroslaw Fojut found its way through to Andrew on the edge of the Forest box after the visitors had tried to break forward quickly. The Hatters lone striker chested the ball down to Dave Edwards but the Welshman's half volley was sliced wide of the target.

The Hatters then went close three times in a matter of seconds, having forced a corner, the ball was swung out to Matthew Spring, who saw his diving header from 18 yards out, flicked goalwards by Bell inside the six yard box but the effort was initially blocked by Smith. The grounded ex-Rushden player managed to quickly return the loose ball towards the goal but it was again blocked, this time by a crowd of Forest defenders on the goal line. The rebound only went as far Spring, who had continued his run and he dragged the ball back across the face of the goal and agonisingly just beyond the diving Edwards' lunge at the far post.

The impressive Currie than lashed a half volley wide of the far post from outside the penalty area. The ball had fallen nicely for the former Ipswich man and he struck a shot with the outside of his boot that was moving through the air but it didn't come in enough and ended up the wrong side of Smith's upright for the home supporters.

Bell then latched on to the end of a big clearance from Dean Brill and having cut inside unleashed a thumping shot which warmed the hands of Smith, the keeper was unable to cleanly hold the ball and ended up pushing it around his post for a Luton corner.

Another quick Luton attack almost caught their opponents out as the Hatters continued to press for the opening goal their efforts deserved. Bell again scampered down the right before rolling an inviting ball across the face of the goal to Currie, he was quickly closed down by Neil Lennon and with little room to manoeuvre on the far post, he rolled the ball into the path of Andrew, whose left footed shot was beaten away by Smith, who was by far the busiest of the two goalkeepers.

That proved to be the final piece of action in an entertaining first half but Luton carried on where they left off when the second period got underway. The Hatters needed just seven minutes of the second period to register their tenth effort on the Forest goal and it turned out to be the breakthrough they had craved. Luton won a corner which looked to have broken down on the far post when the ball eluded Fojut however Spring hooked the ball back to the opposuite post where it was met by Andrew's head and he managed to place the ball deftly beyond Smith and into the bottom corner.

Kevin Blackwell's men had their tails up and minutes later they felt they should have been presented with the opportunity to double their lead from the spot. Bell's low cross appeared to strike the hand of Lennon inside the area however referee Mr Mathieson controvesially adjudged the incident to have occurred outside of the area. Currie delivered a low pint point ball into the box for Chris Coyne to volley but his shot was blocked and the visitors were able to clear a breath a sigh of relief.

It wasn't all one way traffic though and their League One rivals were certainly playing their part in an attractive game of football on a cold night. Left back forward Matt Lockwood latched onto the end of a deep cross and hammered a half-volley at Dean Brill after neatly bringing the ball down but the Hatters keeper dealt well with the threat.

At the other end Smith was soon called into action again, this time to push a thumping volley from Edwards around the post for Luton's sixth corner.

Colin Calderwood made his first change of the evening on 71 minutes when he introduced attacking pair Junior Agogo and Kris Commons to the play, Nathan Tyson and Lewis McGugan were the men to make way. It looked to have paid off almost immediately when a neat flick from Agogo allowed James Perch to play in Chris Cohen, the former Yeovil man rounded the advancing Brill however Chris Perry was on hand to clear the goal bound shot from in front of the posts and away for a corner.

The home side continued to carve out chances, almost at will, and when Bell whipped in a dangerous free-kick, Andrew headed just over, after he had been fouled by Kelvin Andrew to win the set piece. Edwards and Bell then created opportunities for themselves but couldn't find the finish to match their impressive build-up work. With ten minutes to go, Luton made their first change, youngster Anthony Grant came on for the impressive Bell in a straight swap. Shortly afterwards Forest made their final switch, Aaron Davies replaced right back Luke Chambers and took up a forward role alongside Grant Holt and Agogo as Forest gambled on getting an equaliser to force a replay.

With normal time up soon afterwards, the fourth official indicated a further three minutes of play, and sensing they were nearly there, the Hatters fans who had braved the cold continued to sing their hearts out. As "We are Luton Town" rattled around the ground, the players though kept their focus and played out the final period of the game to set up a second mouth watering tie with Liverpool in front of the television cameas.

Luton: Brill; Perry, Fojut, Coyne, Jackson; Bell (sub Grant 80), Edwards, Robinson, Spring, Currie; Andrew. Subs not used: Goodall, Talbot, Keane, McVeigh.

Nottm Forest: Smith; Chambers (Sub Davies 83), Wilson, Breckin, Lockwood; Cohen, Lennon, Perch, McGugan (sub Commons 71); Tyson (sub Agogo 71), Holt. Subs not used: Morgan, Roberts.

Bookings: Robinson (Luton) 69, Holt (Forest) 89, Grant (Luton) 90

Referee: Mr S Mathieson