Luton Town are aiming to progress into the Emirates FA Cup fourth round when we head north to face Bolton Wanderers in a replay on Tuesday night.
Rob Edwards’ side came from behind to secure a crucial point at Turf Moor against Burnley last Friday, leaving the Hatters one point behind Everton in the fight for Premier League survival.
Ian Evatt’s Trotters unfortunately had their League One fixture against Cheltenham Town abandoned after a fan was taken ill in the crowd during the first half on Saturday.
Luton Town sends their love and prayers to lifelong Bolton supporter Iain Purslow’s family and friends, as well as everyone at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, after it was announced on Sunday that Iain had sadly passed away.
To celebrate Iain’s life, a round of applause will take place in the 71st minute of this game – the age Iain was when he passed away.
The opposition
Bolton have improved their unbeaten streak to six games since our goalless draw at Kenilworth Road in the first half of this tie.
Evatt’s side currently sit in third place in League One, two points behind leaders Portsmouth with three games in hand and are in the EFL Trophy quarter final.
The Toughsheet Community Stadium has been a difficult place to visit this season, Bolton have only lost four home games this season in all competitions.
This will be Luton’s first visit to Bolton since January 1997 and our first visit to the Toughsheet Community Stadium since it was opened later that year.
Words from Rob
“We have the opportunity to make changes, but we will select a side capable of winning the game and one which will go into game with the right mentality.
“Bolton are a good team, especially at home, they’ll fancy they can win the game, and why not? They came to our place and drew and performed well. We’ll respect them and prepare accordingly.
“But it doesn’t matter what team I pick, we need the right mentality to be on it.
“To be honest, it’s human nature to get up for Premier League games but the focus and attitude needs to be right for the cup games – and that’s how the lads have trained.”
Last time out
Luton shared the points with fellow bottom three side Burnley at Turf Moor on Friday night.
Carlton Morris headed in his first goal since September in stoppage time after Zeki Amdouni put the hosts in-front during the first half.
Team news
Jacob Brown is available for selection again after serving his one-match suspension for accumulating five yellow cards.
Defender Mads Andersen has suffered a calf injury which will rule the Dane out for this fixture.
Issa Kaboré has travelled to Ivory Coast for Burkina Faso’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign, while Marvelous Nakamba and Tom Lockyer are also unavailable.
Officials
The referee for our fixture against Bolton will be Thomas Bramall.
70 yellow cards and one red card has been handed out by Bramall across his 16 games this season.
We last had a game ran by Bramall when we drew at Peterborough United in the Championship back in April 2022.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will not be in operation for this fixture.
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Assistant Referees: Akil Howson & Mark Stevens
Fourth Official: Tom Nield
LOVE FOOTBALL. PROTECT THE GAME.
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.
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 Premier League 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.
Please email myvoice@lutontown.co.uk if you have any concerns and to report incidents at a Luton Town fixture. You can also report incidents via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.