Rob Edwards, the manager of Luton, acknowledged that there is a strong desire to rest some of his more seasoned players for the FA Cup match against Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.
The Hatters are taking a break from their Premier League campaign today as they take on a Trotters team that also played seven times last month. The Trotters also had a game on New Year’s Day. The Hatters had just finished a demanding December schedule that saw them play six matches, with the match at AFC Bournemouth being abandoned after an hour due to Tom Lockyer’s cardiac arrest.
During that demanding schedule, midfielder Ross Barkley played every minute for Luton; Andros Townsend also started five games, with forward Elijah Adebayo playing a major role. When asked if he was considering giving players like Townsend and Barkley, who won the competition with Chelsea in 2018 despite not being used as a substitute during the team’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Wembley, and who came off the bench in the Blues’ losses to Arsenal and Liverpool in the 2020 and 2022 finals, a break for the game, Edwards responded, “There’s temptation in every game to try and make sure we’ve got the right energy on the pitch.” December was a busy month with a lot going on both on and off the pitch.
The Luton Town starting lineup for Hatters’ FA Cup matchup against Bolton Wanderers has been revealed.
We have a really fit team, I believe, and the guys can handle it. We can select a side that has the potential to win the game because January is a little different and calmer. Although it’s crucial that we treat Bolton and the opposition with respect, and we will do so with the squad we choose, those older boys you mentioned are some of our best players, so that’s really positive news for us.
Edwards went on to say of Barkley, who scored his second goal for the team during last weekend’s 3-2 loss to Chelsea, “He’s a special player, a special person.” It’s wonderful that he has a place to live and is content. He feels encouraged, in my opinion, and we let him go out there and be the best Ross Barkley he can be—which is a really terrific player.
Edwards went on, “I think everyone wants to play and that’s the difficulty that I have,” adding that the aspect of his job that he detests the most is having to inform players that they would not be making another appearance, no matter what choice he makes. That’s the part that keeps me up at night the most, so it’s both good and horrible. It’s the letdown. You feel as though you are disappointing more people than you are making happy while you are seated in front of an intelligent gathering of individuals. The most challenging aspect of our work is retaining a motivated group when some of them are a little irritated by a lack of playing time.
The manager also doesn’t want to burn his fingers a third time, as he made several changes for the FA Cup match against Grimsby the previous season, and Luton’s disastrous 3-0 loss in a Blundell Park replay followed. They also made a significant lineup change for this season’s Carabao Cup third-round trip to Exeter, where they lost 1-0 at St. James Park. Edwards acknowledges that the cup matches have been the only true source of unhappiness throughout his tenure at Kenilworth Road.
“I want to respect every game that we play; even in the few cup games we’ve played since coming here, we’ve just fallen short of our potential,” he continued. The lesson has always been that we must enter every game with the intention of winning. We can review the few cautions that were mentioned before to ensure that we are doing everything correctly, as we must if we don’t want to lose the game. We must make sure we give our incredibly talented supporters something to cheer about since there will be a full house and they will be
