'West Brom on the beach' - Luton Town relegation state of play ahead of Championship D-Day

Two teams are doomed and five more are fighting to avoid being the third trapped in the Championship drop zone when the full-time whistles blow on the final day of the season. Here we zone in on Luton Town, currently fourth from bottom and trying to avoid successive relegations. They head to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday (12.

30pm). You can view the story of Hull City's season here while Preston North End, Derby County and Stoke City are also in the battle. Luton's against-the-odds promotion to the Premier League in 2023 was followed by relegation by six points 12 months later - and then only because fourth-from-bottom Nottingham Forest had been deducted four points But while second-from-bottom Burnley and rock bottom Sheffield United have bounced back with top three finishes in the Championship, Luton barely won a game until the start of March.



By that point, Rob Edwards had been sacked and Matt Bloomfield had picked up three points in his first eight matches. They lost Ross Barkley, Chiedozie Ogbene and Andros Townsend last summer and hardly spent anything in terms of replacements. Mark McGuinness was the only new first team regular.

Goals were hard to come by for Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo, and by the new year they had the second worst defensive record in the division. Edwards partly blamed 'the football gods' and Luton legend David Pleat said at the time: "He did his best, events transpired against him, particularly in the last four games. There were incredible last-minute goals and freak goals as well - and it can happen, you can have a bad run.

" They did dip into their pockets in January and signed Thelo Aasgaard from Wigan, Isaiah Jones from Middlesbrough, Millenic Alli from Exeter, Lasse Nordas from Tromso and Christ Makosso from Molenbeek, as well as Kal Naismith and Josh Bowler on loan. Aasgaard, who cost about £3.5m, has been key in particular.

The change since the spring has been remarkable. They picked up 28 points from the opening 34 games (0.82 per game) but have since picked up 21 from 11 (1.

9 per game) and only Burnley and Leeds can better that form. BBC Three Counties sports editor Geoff Doyle said: "This is a different team to the side which struggled for the first six months of the season where the players had a touch of the Premier League prima donnas about them and a manager struggling to cope. "Bloomfield has imposed his style on the team and brought a structure and shape required in the Championship.

Most importantly he's offered clear and precise instructions and tactics. "It's absurdly simplistic; the players seem to know what they're doing now - what the plan is - whereas before they looked confused and at a loss as to why they were so off-form. That malaise was allowed to deepen which led to further, wider problems.

Poor attitudes, lack of motivation, lack of care, feeling sorry for themselves." Three wins on the spin for the first time this season has dragged Luton out of the bottom three, seeing off Derby away then play-off hopefuls Bristol City and Coventry City at home. They had held Leeds to a draw in early April too and snatched a last-minute equaliser at Stoke.

Their only defeats since the start of March have been a stuffing at Burnley and a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn. They head to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday in a confident mood. Luton have appealed against a red card issued to midfielder Liam Walsh last weekend against Coventry for a push on Luis Binks in the hope he can be involved.

But former ref Keith Hackett told Football Insider: “It might look harsh but he’s gone in and he’s used his arm and hand on his opponent so he’s asked the question of the referee and the referee’s said, ‘Right, you’re off.’ So has he any right of appeal? I think not. He might, but whether he’ll succeed.

.. Yes there’s an overeaction possibly with the opponent.

“But judging the strength of the action is difficult but he’s used his hands against his opponent, he’s raised his hands and arm, that’s a no-no in football.” Bloomfield told the Luton News after a last-minute winner from Shandon Baptiste against Coventry: "Our matches have been on moments, Blackburn at home we hit the bar twice, missed a couple of chances and it reflects poorly. (Against Coventry) it could have been that way if we don’t take that moment at the end, but we’ve been working so incredibly hard, I thought we earned it.

We had 17 corners, you think is it going to be our day? "The spirit and the togetherness has been growing for a while now and for the boys to share that moment together was very special. I think I lost it for a moment didn’t I? I don’t think that it’s easy to contain yourself in those moments because the game is about emotion. Life throws you these challenges and we’ve just tried to stay as calm as we can with our jobs here and try to think as clearly as possible, but it’s not easy to do when a moment like that throws itself at you.

” Robert Smythson: Luton Town don't do middle of the table stuff, either top or near the bottom. But adrenaline will get us through this season to near the top next season. Ian Morrison: West Brom have been on the beach but stand-in manager is throwing in youth players and they are giving it 100 per cent and dangerous.

Mark Haydon: It will be our cup final on Saturday. We need everyone to be up for it and give it all they have got. Andy Lowe: One last push and we'll be over the line.

John Lark: Luton should have been challenging to go back up with Burnley and Sheffield United. Didn't buy the right players. I hope they stay up and push for promotion next year.

Got the money so got to spend please. Ti Keyte: We all, or most, criticised the decision to bring in Bloomfield, eg poundland purchase. If he keeps us up then I've got some humble pie to eat myself.

We looked absolutely dead certs to go down a few weeks back. In terms of team news, Luton are waiting to hear back about Liam Walsh's red card appeal. Jacob Brown has missed the run-in due to ankle surgery and Elijah Adebayo has had an operation on an ACL injury.

Midfielder Jordan Clark was used as a sub against Coventry after picking up a knock the previous week. Luton are 5/2 to be relegated. They are 13/10 to win at West Brom, 2/1 to lose and the draw is at 23/10.

A win and Luton stay up. A draw might not be enough for Luton but only if Hull win or Derby or Preston pick up at least a point. Luton could go into the bottom three with a defeat only if Hull pick up at least a point.

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