After booking their place in the last four of the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday, the Town head to Port Vale on Saturday aiming to return to winning ways in League One.
The Hatters have lost their last six away matches from home in the bread and butter of the third tier, but can they stop the rot on the road against the division’s bottom club?
Let’s get into it.
Valiant efforts
Having been promoted from the fourth tier last term, Port Vale have found life in League One on the tough side and go into Saturday’s game propping up the rest of the division and lie 10 points from safety.
It’s just six league wins all season so far for Vale, who appointed Jon Brady as the successor to Darren Moore on 6th January. Only two of those have come on home turf, with their form at Vale Park constituting the worst home record in the division.
While they have struggled in the league, the Valiants have enjoyed cup football, winning nine cup ties this season. They exited the League Cup at the third-round stage after a home defeat to Arsenal and they remain in the hunt of the FA Cup – they host Bristol City in a delayed fourth round clash next Tuesday.
Haven’t we met before?
So, there’s this website. Hatters Heritage. You might have heard of it. Got information and line-ups of every single game we’ve ever played. Scans of every programme and photos of every player, too.
Visiting their website will give you the complete record of all our meetings with the Valiants, which goes back to our first game with them all the way back to our first meeting with Burslem Port Vale, as they were then known, in 1898.
We drew 2-2 at Kenilworth Road in December – our first meeting since Vale thrashed us over Christmas in 2017 when the two clubs were in League Two.
Since 1994 our results at the Burslem venue have gone only two days: a win or defeat. It’s four wins and five defeats with our most recent success coming in our -30 season of 2008/09 when goals from Asa Hall, Kevin Gallen and Chris Martin gave us a 3-1 win. “AI, when was that game?” we hear you ask. 28th February.
In charge
Devon-based whistler Lee Swabey takes charge of Saturday’s game. The last time he oversaw one of our games? The 2-2 draw between us and Vale in December. For those who like to know, he’s shown 68 yellow cards and two red cards this season.
OTD
Omitting leap years, the final day of February has been very, very kind in recent history. A 2-2 draw with Millwall in 2023 ended a sequence of seven successive victories on this day in the Grigorian calendar, including that aforementioned 3-1 win against Vale in 2009.
Other memories include:
Reaching Wembley in the League Cup semi-final second leg v Oxford
Playing in yellow (yes, really) and winning 2-0 at Plymouth in 1998
2,500 in the away end witness a 2-1 win at Peterborough in 2004
On the road
Over 1,200 Hatters fans are making the trip north on Saturday and if you still want to go and haven’t got a ticket, don’t worry, you can still pay on the day. All the information you need on getting in, where to park and how much it’ll cost you can be found here.
Team news
Striker Ali Al-Hamadi is available for the trip to Vale Park but the game comes too soon for a host of players in the squad. Teden Mengi is awaiting a scan on a muscular injury sustained against Plymouth on Tuesday while Mads Andersen and Gideon Kodua, who also went off against the Pilgrims, will be assessed if they can feature.
Liam Walsh remains unavailable despite a full weeks’ training but Hakeem Odoffin has also trained fully and could be ready for the weekend.
New signing Sverre Sandal remains sidelined but the Jack Wilshere hinted that Elijah Adebayo, fresh from featuring for 45 minutes for the Under-21s last weekend, could look at introducing him to the squad.
Wilshere said: “Elijah’s getting closer. He is getting closer and you, you can literally see it every single day in training. I think the next step for him is that he plays games. Tuesday was his first 45 minutes, scored a goal, which would be good for his confidence. He trained yesterday again with the group, and you can see how much he's benefitted from that already.
“Again, I've got a decision to make about when that is that we bring him back into the squad. We maybe give him 15 minutes while still trying to find him games somewhere, because he needs to play. The next step is for him to do 60 mutes, and then there's a 90 minutes, and he will benefit from that. So yes, it'll be a big boost. It's be a big boost for me, for the players, but also for the fans. I know how much they appreciate and love what he's done for this club and he's still really hungry to try and help the club. So yeah, he's not far away.”
Jack’s presser
Watch the manager’s press conference on LTFC+ as he talks about personnel, Port Vale and the difference between the home and away form. All 22 minutes and 51 seconds are here for all to see for free without any logging in faff. Enjoy.
Tune in, turn on.
Simon Pitts will be, as ever, on the mic on LTFC+ to doubt incur the wrath of nearby Vale fans when he’s imploring with the referee to ensure a throw is taken in the right place.
If you’re overseas and want to watch, it’s £10. Just want audio? It’s available anywhere, and it’s just £2.50 for the pleasure. Clicking here gives you those possibilities.
If you are an ex-pat overseas, take advantage of the half-season Global Hatters subscription which is now just £150. All the details are right here.
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. 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 [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.
Come on Luton!
What we’re liking this week
This man back playing, and scoring.
