Luton Town return to Premier League action at Kenilworth Road on Saturday evening when we host Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Rob Edwards’ side were knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup by Manchester City during midweek, with the focus now firmly on Premier League survival.
Unai Emery’s Villa have strengthened their place in the top four with back-to-back wins following their home defeat to Manchester United last month.
There will be a tribute to the late Chris Nicholl – a period of applause will start and end on the referee’s whistle prior to kick off.
The opposition
Villa have won back-to-back Premier League away games for the first time this season over the last fortnight after scoring five at Sheffield United and beating Fulham.
With 14 goals and 10 assists, no player has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
Watkins has scored once and assisted four goals in his last two games against promoted sides.
Villa have scored more first half goals than any other side in the Premier League this season, only Man City have been leading at half-time more often than the Villans.
Team news
The injury list continues to grow for the Hatters as Gabe Osho is the latest player to be ruled out.
Amari'i Bell was replaced during the first half against Man City with a slight hamstring issue and will be given as much time as possible to recover.
Bell's replacement on the night, Joe Johnson, will not be in contention as the 18-year-old has been ill for the past three days without training.
Issa Kaboré, who was ineligible to face his parent club on Tuesday, will return to the matchday squad this weekend.
Defender Dan Potts has joined long-term absentees Tom Lockyer, Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Brown and Mads Andersen after picking up a nasty hamstring injury in training.
Last time out
Luton bowed out of the Emirates FA Cup after a four-goal deficit at Kenilworth Road against Man City on Tuesday night.
Jordan Clark’s brace was not enough against the holders as Erling Haaland’s five goals were capped off by a strike from Mateo Kovačić.
Last time we met at the Kenny
League Two Luton Town shocked Championship Aston Villa in the first round of the League Cup back in August 2016.
Jordan Ayew’s opener was cancelled out by the home side, with goals from Jake Gray, Cameron McGeehan and an own goal from Jores Okore.
Officials
The referee for our fixture against Aston Villa will be Michael Oliver.
97 yellow cards and four red cards have been handed out by Oliver across his 22 games this season.
We last had a game ran by Oliver when we were promoted to the Premier League after beating Coventry City at Wembley Stadium in May.
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt & Dan Cook
Fourth Official: Matthew Donohue
VAR: Peter Bankes
AVAR: Mark Scholes
Hatters ask all supporters to 'Unite For Access'
All fans should be able to enjoy matchdays, but structural and societal barriers can prevent many disabled supporters from having that experience.
An estimated 24 per cent of the UK population is disabled, making disabled people the largest minority group in the UK. Level Playing Field’s ‘Unite For Access’ campaign celebrates access and inclusion for disabled fans at sporting events throughout England and Wales.
The most recent Level Playing Field fan survey listed ‘attitudes of others’ as the second most common barrier to attending live sport, ranking only behind ‘physical access’ and impacting more than a quarter of disabled fans. This means that everyone can play a significant part in making live sport more inclusive.
Level Playing Field is the leading disability fan advocacy charity in England and Wales, and we are proud to join more than a 100 other clubs taking part in the 'Unite For Access' campaign.
We, as a club, believe that all people should be able to attend live sport. We are committed to making Kenilworth Road accessible to all and will continue to make steps to improve.
We also call on all supporters to play their part in making Kenilworth Road a welcoming environment for our disabled fans and those joining us from visiting clubs.
Disability can be a complex subject matter, and that is why we invite both disabled and nondisabled fans to engage with us through this important campaign and to ensure access and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do.
Everyone should be able to enjoy cheering on their team on matchday, so we ask you to…
Unite for Your Team
Unite for your fans
#UniteForAccess
To find out more about the work of Level Playing Field, please visit levelplayingfield.org.uk, or find them across social media by searching Level Playing Field.
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.
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 myvoice@lutontown.co.uk or report the incident via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
Fan information
We would like to remind supporters to arrive at the game as early as possible to ease congestion around the stadium, at the Ticket Office and the turnstiles.
There will be additional road closures around Kenilworth Road on home matchdays.
A message from Luton Community Fire Station
Please park considerately when attending football matches at Kenilworth Road. Fire crews have been struggling recently to get around irresponsibly parked vehicles on Studley Road when attending fire calls, which has caused concerns and unnecessary restrictions over recent weeks.
Don’t park on yellow lines, these are used where street parking makes the road too narrow or blocks visibility for drivers. Parking on corners could mean that an emergency vehicle travelling on blue lights cannot see oncoming traffic round the corner.
If you park without considering passing emergency vehicles, you could prevent a life from being saved.
