The Hatters aim to build on a cracking Christmas by continuing their rise towards the top spots in League One as we kick-off 2026 in Devon.
The first of two away days in the south-west in the space of a little over three weeks sees us welcome in the New Year with a 422-mile round-trip to Exeter City.
Midfielders Liam Walsh and Zack Nelson will clock up their half-century of appearances for the Hatters, if they take to the St James Park pitch.
It's Jack Wilshere's 34th birthday, too - so all the more reason to celebrate what we hope will be a 35th year to remember for the youngest of the EFL's 72 managers by making it three league wins in a row for the first time this season.
Speaking after the 3-0 win over Leyton Orient on Monday night, Jack: "I’m so proud to be manager of Luton Town, every game, every day I’m in, I’m trying to help the team, help the players, make myself better.
"I really enjoy being around the staff. We’ve got a good group; the ones that came with me, but also the ones that we inherited and the training ground staff, the chefs.
"There’s a real nice atmosphere around the place and it’s been enjoyable. It’s also my birthday on New Year’s Day, so I’ll be spending my birthday with them as well as Christmas, so it’s been nice.”
Happy birthday Jack, and Happy New Year to all Hatters!
Hello again
Just as we met up with Leyton Orient little more than a fortnight after playing them for the first time this season, there was a period at the start of December when every almost every article published on this website had Exeter in the headline.
Progress from the Vertu Trophy Round of 32 was secured with a 4-0 win over the Grecians on Tuesday 2nd December, with a Lasse Nordås double and goals from Zack Nelson (pictured below) and Shayden Morris doing the damage at Kenilworth Road, before our U21s beat theirs 2-1 in the Premier League Cup at Enfield Town just 24 hours later.
Thursday's clash is the first of our league encounters for the season, with the Grecians set to return to the Kenny on Tuesday 17th March.
Our overall record against Exeter is 31 wins, 15 draws and 12 defeats from 58 matches dating back to 1908, the first of which was a 2-1 defeat at St James Park in the Southern League.
We'd like to forget our last trip there too, when, as a Premier League club, we were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage in September 2023 by a Deme Mitchell goal for the League One side.
That night was significant, however, as it was the first time we saw Teden Mengi in a Luton shirt (pictured above) after his move from Manchester United, and Joe Johnson made his first senior start after two sub appearances the previous year.
Both defenders have started, and starred, alongside each other in the Town's last two League One matches as we head to the south-west with a record of five wins, four draws and three defeats from the 12 league fixtures so far in the Wilsh-era.
How we stand
Exeter's 1-0 win away at AFC Wimbledon on Monday saw them climb above Rotherham and their county rivals Plymouth, and out of the relegation zone into 19th place on 26 points.
It was their third success in their last five league matches, a run that started with the same result in the home encounter with the south-west London Dons, and a 3-0 home victory over Barnsley sandwiched by defeats on the road at promotion-chasing Bolton (2-1) and Cardiff (1-0).
The Hatters are eighth on 35 points, with a six-point gap having opened up over Wycombe, who are currently ninth with 29 points and top of the cluster of 13 clubs all within three points of the relegation zone, with Exeter and Plymouth on 26 points and positioned either side of the dreaded drop line.
The Hatters have won their last two matches, scoring seven without reply against the Chairboys and Orient, and travel south knowing that a third straight victory could potentially take us up to fourth, providing results involving Stockport, Bolton, Huddersfield and Stevenage go our way.
The away end
The Town will be roared on by at least 1,050 supporters at St James Park, as that was the phenomenal number who had bought a ticket in advance from the Hatters' ticket office prior to the 3pm cut-off on Monday.
Thank you so much for your amazing support, Town fans.
Exeter will sell the remaining terrace tickets to the first 111 who rock up on the day, but not beyond that total allocation of 1,161 for safety reasons, so anyone getting set to travel on the day without a ticket, please bear that in mind.
In charge
For the second game in a row we have a referee taking charge of a Hatters match for the first time, with Matthew Russell (pictured below) the man in the middle for this one.
The Hampshire official stepped up to the EFL for the first time in March 2024 and this season has refereed 15 matches across Leagues One, Two and the FA Cup, handing out 30 yellow cards and two reds.
On this day
The last time we won on New Year's Day was in our Championship promotion season, as we kicked off 2023 with a late Reece Burke winner at Huddersfield after Amari'i Bell had cancelled out Duane Holmes' opener before half-time.
In what might prove to be an omen for this year's NYD fixture, Burke's 84th-minute strike sealed a third successive win over seven festive days - and lifted the Town into the play-off places in the early stages of Rob Edwards' reign.
We all know what happened from there on in...
Town team news
Jack told the press after the Orient win that Hakeem Odoffin would be out for a short period after making a brief return as a substitute against Wycombe, while Lasse Nordås, Jake Richards, Christ Makosso and Izzy Jones continue their recoveries from illness and injury and Milli Alli is fit and available to face his former club, if selected.
Speaking on Monday, the manager said: "We’re going to need everyone and I can guarantee you that the team will look a little bit different and then will look different again, so everyone has to be ready, everyone has to stay focused and try and go there with a clean sheet mentality in mind.
"I saw Christ for the first time today, he looked a lot better. He’s had a tough couple of days where he’s struggled, so we’ll assess him.
"Lasse came back and started training, but didn’t feel quite right so had to go in, we’ll check on him over the next few days and hopefully he’ll be fine as we need everyone.
“Jake won’t be ready which he won’t be happy about as he wanted to go back to Exeter. He picked up a little injury and then was ill, so he’ll be a bit longer.
"Izzy is still on the grass, he’s not with the team, he’s with the fitness team, but hopefully he won’t be long.
"Milli’s okay, it’s just a tactical decision with him, while we had to rush Haks a little bit to be on the bench (against Wycombe), so he’s probably not quite right at the moment. He’ll be a couple of weeks.”
Tune in, turn on
Simon Pitts will be in position at St James Park to call the action as it happens, live and uninterrupted on LTFC+. More subscriber info can be found right here, but it’s just £10 for a match pass if you’re overseas. If you’re out and about and can’t watch but want to listen, you can do that, too.
You can also follow our social media channels for live updates as they happen, plus photos and behind-the-scenes content during the 90 minutes. Stick around post-match on lutontown.co.uk for a full report, post-match reaction and the highlights.
And finally...don’t be THAT fan.
Now the serious bit. A reminder to all supporters, no matter who you are, how old or who you’re supporting on the night, to go about your time at the game 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 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 – which could lead to potential prosecution.
We 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 clickingHERE, or by contacting your nearest steward immediately.
Alternatively, email [email protected] or report the incident via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
We're all Luton.
Today we're mostly liking...
The pass from Mads, sharp turn and bullet of a shot into the bottom corner for Gids' eighth goal of the season to set us on the way to victory over Leyton Orient on Monday night.
See you in 2026.
Up the Town.
