The Hatters are looking to make it four league games without defeat and bring some Christmas cheer to the Kenny when struggling Port Vale come to town on Saturday afternoon.
The final home game before the big man in red and white makes his annual late-night delivery will see the Salvation Army performing Christmas carols on the pitch at half-time of the clash with League One's bottom club.
We hope by then that the home faithful will have had plenty to sing about, without having to wait for our own special delivery man to arrive late in the day, as has become a regular occurence with Gideon Kodua netting his third added-time goal of the season to earn a point at Leyton Orient in midweek.
That result was the second successive game the Hatters have come from behind to rescue something, following the 1-1 home draw with Bolton last time out at the Kenny. That one was Gids-wrapped too, courtesy of the West Ham loanee who now has five goals for the season.
The form table
The Hatters kick off seventh in the table, three points off the final play-off position with our 28 points and 22 goals double the visitors' 14 and 11 respectively, as the Staffordshire side managed by Darren Moore (pictured below) find the step back up to the third tier tough going so far.
Last season's League Two runners-up arrive in Bedfordshire five points below second-bottom side Plymouth Argyle and six points adrift of safety.
They have not won in their last eight league games. But – and this is a big BUT - they have won their last two matches in cup competitions, beating Barnsley 5-0 in the Vertu and last week seeing off a Bristol Rovers side that is rapidly running out of gas in League Two, albeit by just the one solitary goal, to earn an FA Cup third round tie at home to our penalty shoot-out conquerors, Fleetwood Town.
Two clean sheets will, as Jack Wilshere pointed out in his pre-match Press conference that you can watch for free below, give them added confidence, just as their early season Carabao Cup exploits did.
In that competition the newly-promoted side beat Blackpool and Championship club Birmingham, both 1-0, before losing 2-0 at home to a full-strength Arsenal who had early and late goals from England star Eberechi Eze and Belgium's Leandro Trossard (pictured above) to thank for their progress.
Either side of that game with the Gunners in late September, Vale recorded three successive league victories - their only ones of the campaign so far - but have since found the going tough, losing five of their last six and taking just three points since winning 2-0 at Barnsley on September 27th.
Vale have only scored 11 goals, but (another one) they have an XG of 23.2 and have missed the second most big chances in the division - 33 - so they are creating opportunities to score, just not taking them.
Their Cole-scorer
Vale's top scorer is a familiar name to football fans around the world. Devante Cole (pictured above) is the 30-year-old son of former Newcastle, Manchester United and England striker Andrew (Andy in old money) and is now with his 11th different club since starting out in Manchester City's academy.
Cole has four goals to his famous name this term, with former Town loan star Jayden Stockley among his strike partner options after netting 11 times in their promotion last term, albeit the now 32-year-old has yet to get off the mark this year.
Haven’t we met before?
The brilliant Hatters Heritage details all of our past clashes with the Burslem club, and the less said about the last one - 18 days short of seven years ago - the better. The 4-0 defeat at Vale Park was a rare low in our League Two promotion-winning campaign under Nathan Jones, with all three points having been secured three months earlier by a Jack Stacey strike (cele pic below) and a Ben Whitfield OG the last time they came to the Kenny.
Town have lost just one of their last 16 home league games against Vale (W10 D5), keeping a clean sheet in four of the last six.
The man in the middle
Lee Swabey (pictured below) is the man with the whistle for this one. Now in his 11th season taking charge of EFL matches, the Devon-based official has reffed 13 matches across League One, Two, National League and FA Cup this term, and has shown 43 yellow cards and two reds.
He last oversaw a Hatters match in March 2019, when Mick Harford took charge of a 2-0 win over Rochdale at Kenilworth Road en route to the League One title.
Town team news
The Hatters will continue to be without midfielder Jake Richards, who manager Jack Wilshere revealed at his Friday Press conference is suffering with illness, possibly tonsilitis.
Hakeem Odoffin will be unavailable with an injury suffered in training last week, while Izzy Jones is still recovering from the ankle injury sustained at Barnsley last month.
Striker Nahki Wells has been back training with the group and is a possibility for inclusion in the matchday squad.
What Jack said
You can watch the full pre-match Press Conference for free...
...and read our University of Beds sports journalism intern Liam Wilmot's excellent report on the Gaffer's plea for Town fans to play their part against Port Vale by clicking HERE.
Season ticket holder Liam will be reporting on the next generation of Hatters at The Brache tomorrow morning when the Under-18s host Cambride United, before taking his seat at the Kenny for the Port Vale clash in the afternoon.
His working weekend won't be over though, as he will be travelling with the Under-21s on their Premier League Cup trip to Brentford on Sunday - you too can attend the midday kick-off at Wheatsheaf Park, scene of a certain Pelly Ruddock's debut 12 years ago last week, with all the details HERE - taking his total to four academy matches and one first-team game covered in his first 13 days with us.
Keep up the great work, Liam!
You can be with us at the Kenny, too
There are tickets still available for the 3pm kick-off at the Kenny, so put the Christmas shopping off for another day and get down early for 25% off drinks between midday and 1.30pm on the Kenilworth Apron, with Huddersfield v Wigan being shown on the big screen from 12.30pm.
Click here to buy a ticket and check out the matchday timetable on our socials below.
Tune in, turn on.
If you're abroad, why not watch the game live on LTFC+ with audio commentary coming from the delicious lips of Simon Pitts, who survived the heights of Brisbane Road's Press balcony in midweek, and our former striker and academy manager Paul Benson, who joins him for co-comms tomorrow.
Passes for the remainder of the season will save you money in the long run – but matchday passes are also available.
Also follow our social media channels for live, pitchside updates as they happen plus photos and behind-the-scenes content. 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 on the day, 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 – 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. UTT.
