Town take on Crawley as the hosts look to help Level Trust
The Hatters take on Crawley Town tomorrow on a day when the football club puts charity first in a bid to help children in Luton.
Our main sponsors SsangYong have kindly given up their logo’s place on the front of the home shirts tomorrow, and in its place will be club charity of the year, Level Trust.
The charity aims to help the one in four children in the town that are currently living below the poverty line, and Luton Town are calling on fans to donate.
Make sure you keep a look out for all the posters and events taking place around the ground.
Tomorrow’s visitors are 16th in League Two, 11 points clear of the relegation zone. The Town took on the Red Devils earlier on in the season and fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Broadfield Stadium.
That result reflects Dermot Drummy’s side’s fantastic home record of seven wins from 13 matches so far this term, with only three of those matches ending in a loss.
However, they have struggled on the road, picking up 12 points from a possible 45. They did manage to earn a big point at Blackpool on Tuesday night though, when they drew 0-0.
That fell on the same night as the Hatters’ fantastic 5-2 win over Yeovil Town, as they made it into the semi-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy, where Sky Bet League One side Oxford United await on 1st March (ticket prices were announced earlier today).
In-form striker Isaac Vassell netted a brace on the night to make it five goals in his last four appearances, and eight for the season – level with fellow striker Jack Marriott. Danny Hylton made it 15 for the campaign with his close range finish in the victory over the Glovers.
Crawley do have their own regular goal scorer though in former Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Town and Swindon Town forward James Collins.
The striker has notched 16 goals this season as well as grabbing two assists, placing him fourth in the division’s top scorers’ charts.
Town boss Nathan Jones said he is aware of the credentials of the Red Devils striker, who finished last season with League Two champions Northampton Town, but he feels his team have their own threats.
“He scored against us down there and look, we do look at their team, every single aspect of what they do,” said Jones. “What we try to do is focus on what we do, because we think we are as good as anyone in the league and if we are at it, it takes some good side to beat us.
“We know they have certain individuals; we know James Collins, we know where he has been and where he finished last year.
“We know he is an experienced striker at this level, scores goals, he is a real handful, but we have got four of them. Let’s concentrate on what we have and hopefully negate what they have.”
The gaffer also felt that under Drummy, Crawley have a new look about them from previous seasons, and is wary of what they possess following the Hatters’ loss earlier on in the season.
Jones said: “I think they’ve got a bit of a different identity now. They have gone a different route with certain players and they’re a dangerous side.
“Look, we lost 2-0 to them there, it could have been a different result with certain things, but we won’t be taking them lightly.
“We are looking forward now to our home games and we want the same kind of performance and energy that we got on Tuesday night against Yeovil, and hopefully for a similar result.”
The Hatters boss will be watching from a different position tomorrow afternoon after requesting that the Kenilworth Road dugouts are switched.
The home staff and substitutes will now be situated in what has been the away team's dugout, preventing the Welshman having his view obscured and continuously being asked to sit down the assistant referee – as well as placing him closer to the Town fans in the Kenilworth Road End.
Tomorrow’s match will be refereed by Staffordshire based Christopher Sarginson, who has taken charge of 26 games in total this season, handing out 78 yellow cards and four reds.
The Hatters and the Red Devils have played each other nine times in total, with tomorrow’s visitors winning six of those contests. The Town have won twice and drawn once.
Tomorrow’s match will have full match commentary available to Hatters Players subscribers – with Simon Pitts back in action on the microphone – as well as the live Wall available on the LTFC website.
Watch Nathan Jones' full press conference from yesterday on Hatters Player freeview on the LTFC home page.