Luton manager Rob Edwards has made a huge claim about Newcastle United after his side beat the Magpies 1-0 yesterday afternoon.
The Hatters registered just their third win of the season and their very first clean sheet against Newcastle after what was a pretty awful display from Eddie Howe’s men.
In his interview after the game, Edwards suggested that this was the most comfortable Luton had felt in any game where they had been leading in the Premier League.
Luton were in control against Newcastle
Although Newcastle were dominating the ball in the final moments simply because they were chasing the game, it was Luton who felt like they were in control of the game the whole way through.
The Magpies have made a habit of starting away games poorly and almost immediately give themselves a lot of work to do, which is something Howe is going to have to really work on in the second half of the season.
It’s not enough to suggest that injuries are the biggest problem, which in fairness Howe never has, as the team easily has more quality in it than Luton regardless of who was missing on the day.
Luton have been on the end of some disappointing results lately having been in the lead or holding on for a big point, but Edwards claims that they felt the most comfortable against Newcastle.
In his interview, Edwards said: “It’s nice that there wasn’t. Of course it was. I felt more comfortable today than in previous games when we have been managing the leads against Liverpool or even the 3-3 scoreline against Arsenal.
“I felt today there was a real desire to keep that clean sheet and we managed it well and kept the ball away from our goal as much as possible in those final few minutes. The lads deserve a lot of credit for it.”
This result has to kick Newcastle into gear
If the Champions League and league cup exits weren’t enough to motivate these players into stepping their game up then this has to be the final straw before things get ugly.
At the moment Newcastle are still well in the fight for a European position, but a few more bad results and the season will start to take a downward turn considering they have Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa coming up.
It’s the worst run of form Newcastle fans could have hoped for heading into the first derby game for almost eight years, but there’s always the hope that a win in that could be a huge boost to getting the season back on track.
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