By the time Kasey Palmer had the Town 2-0 up and in control by half-time on Tuesday night the task became much, much easier.
We don’t mean the players’ concentration, keeping a clean sheet or holding onto three important points – we mean our own collective multi-tasking.
There was one, maybe even only half an eye on the game being played out, live, before us. That was the easy simple, under the lights. The vivid green of the illuminated New York Stadium grass against a backdrop of red Rotherham seats certainly helped.
The other eye(s)? Well, they were elsewhere. Heads down, a doomscrolling of sorts into livescore apps, social media; hey some were even streaming Stevenage versus Barnsley inside the New York Stadium! Talk about commitment. Why oh why does football do this to us?
In normal, everyday life, screaming “come on Barnsley, fgs” at your little phone screen (outside of your own home, especially), is not normal. But then neither is the Hatters’ recent form, 10 unbeaten with five wins in six.
Yet there will always be something about the worry of things out of your control. In times like these, just channel your inner John Still.
At this point, we were then going to write something like ‘one of the good things about Saturday is by the time the Town walk out for kick-off against Barnsley, Stevenage will have played already, and we’ll know a bit more about our fate’.
But then you glance at the table and the weekend fixtures. League One is doing ‘League One things’. And don’t pretend you haven’t looked at the permutations. We know you know we could somehow catch three of the four teams directly above us in the table.
Prepare yourselves, then. Should Jack Wilshere’s side hold any kind of advantage on Saturday, the phones’ll be out. The eyes elsewhere. Lutonian men, women and children refreshing scores, still believing…
Enough. Let’s get into it.
The Nothing To Play For paradox
Unlike Tuesday, Barnsley won’t have our backs on Saturday. No offence, Tykes.
Email us in block capitals and correct us if we’re wrong, but it’s fair to say we have little soft spot for the Oakwell outfit. Plenty of players have done well for both and we’ve had our fair share of competitive battles, whether that be fighting for promotion or battling against relegation.
That will not be the case this season, though. Barnsley began the campaign with high hopes. Five wins from seven saw them up to third in the table by mid-September. But that has been as good as it’s got.
This weekend they visit Kenilworth Road knowing they’re not going up and they’re not going down. They are, *insert dramatic music* a team who has nothing to play for.
However, what Conor Hourihane’s team definitely is, is a side out for form. It’s just one win in their last 10. Their last four wins have all come against sides in the bottom seven.
Regardless of all that, what’s important to keep in mind is this: they still remain a team who beat us 5-0 just five short months ago.
Haven’t we met before?
Hard to ignore that 5-0, really, isn’t it.
“A reality check,” Jack called it afterwards. Probably a watershed moment. There were plenty of harsh words in the dressing room post-match and the transformation since has been clear for all to see.
As for this fixture – Barnsley at home – a dive into the Hatters Heritage history books shows this fixture has been tricky for Town teams of the past. Three wins in 15 goes believe it or not.
We toppled the Tykes the last time they came here, winning 2-1 in February 2022 thanks to goals from Elijah Adebayo and Allan Campbell. Play the video just to check out the tidy finish from a certain Carlton Morris, by the way.
Kenilworth Road had been, up until that point, a happy hunting ground for our visitors. That victory ended a Barnsley run of seven games unbeaten at Kenilworth Road in which they had won five, including four in a row between 2002 and 2007.
OTD
Okay, hands up if you remember any of these:
Watching from your sofas during Covid as the Town turn around a 2-0 half-time deficit against Bristol City, who took the lead through Nahki Wells, and win 3-2. Harry Cornick scoring the winner.
A typically big Town following headed to Southend in the sun in 2015 only to see Elliot Justham’s late mistake all but end our push for the League Two play-offs.
Griffin Park, Brentford in 1998. A pub on each corner and an away end to rival the Oak Road end, we return home with a point in a 2-2 draw as we edge closer to safety in Div.2 (now League One). Rory Allen, arguably one of our greatest loan signings but who is now getting some serious competition, is on target.
Brian Stein and Mark Pembridge score as we beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Kenilworth Road in 1992. Those inside the ground wouldn’t know it at the time, but it would be our last home win in the top-flight for 31 years and seven months.
Rochdale have a big game of their own on Saturday but on 25th April 1970, 2,000 Town fans travelled to Spotland to see us promoted from Division Three (now League One) with Viv Busby and Malcolm Macdonald on target in a 2-0 victory.
Team news
Having missed the past two games through injury, Jordan Clark is back in training but is unlikely to feature against his boyhood club according to Jack Wilshere.
Izzy Jones remains a doubt having picked up a hamstring injury in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley.
Jack’s presser
Watch the manager’s press conference on LTFC+ as he fields all the media’s questions about the play-off chase. View precisely 26 minutes and 30 seconds of discussion for free without any logging-in faff. Enjoy.
In charge
Harry Wager takes charge of a game involving the Hatters for the first time. 10 of his 18 games this season have been in the National League. His last in League One came in Port Vale’s 3-1 win at Peterborough that saw Ethon Archer score two superb free-kicks. 74 yellows and two reds have left his pocket so far this term.
Make some noise for the Luton boys
The game’s sold out for the final home league match of the season and we’re encouraging you all to make it a colourful and noisy end to the campaign on home soil.
Wear replica kits old or new and if you don’t have one, buy one.
Get down to the ground from midday with 25 per cent off all drinks in the fanzone until 1.30pm, while the club shop, which opens at 1pm, will have away, goalkeeper and third shirts available for half-price.
Stevenage’s game at Doncaster will be on the big screen, saving you the hassle of refreshing the scores on your phone AND giving you the opportunity to shout your encouragement at Matty Pearson and Elliot Lee from afar.
Read more about what’s planned here.
Get with the programme
Will it be the final programme of the season? Well, there’s plenty more mentions of that question in, you guessed it, Saturday’s programme.
CEO Gary Sweet is on boardroom notes duty, plus there are columns from Jack Wilshere, Kal Naismith and Academy chief Paul Benson.
The Supporters’ Trust also speak in depth to Tom Moroney of Knockmoy Consultancy, the project managers of Power Court – and that’s well, well worth a read.
Tune in, turn on.
Simon Pitts will be, as ever, on the mic on LTFC+, living and breathing the highs and lows of 90 minutes that only he can when watching a Luton Town football match.
If you’re overseas or can’t make it to Kenilworth Road, you can watch it all unfold 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, we 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. Pitch invasions certainly won’t be of any help should we extend our season, too.
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
Hakeem Odoffin’s only been on the losing side once this season – at Barnsley, of all teams.
Watch his post-match interview at former club Rotherham and embrace his and the lads’ focus with two games to go…
UTT
