‘Great signing’: Luton threats Sunderland will have to be wary of in Championship play-off semi-final

Sunderland face Luton Town in the semi-finals of the Championship play-offs – but what can they expect?

The first leg will take place at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, May 13, three days before the second leg at Kenilworth Road.

Luton are on a 14-match unbeaten run coming into the tie and secured their place in the play-offs with three games to spare – finishing third in the table.

To find out more, we caught up with Mike Simmonds from our sister title Luto n Today  on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast.

You can listen to the full episode here

What have been the key reasons behind Luton’s unbeaten run?

MS: “The defence has been amazing recently. They have been 14 unbeaten, it’s only one defeat in 20 and that was against Burnley which was a late penalty.

“They have kept so many clean sheets this season, 20 now for the season, and been really hard to score against.

“From open play I think they’ve only conceded three goals in that time, one of those was a goalkeeping error and one of those was an offside goal.

“They have been really hard to score against and scored goals at the other end. Carlton Morris is on 20 goals for the season and Elijah Adebayo has popped up with goals.”

Just how good a job has Rob Edwards done at Luton?

MS: “He came in, lost his first game at Middlesbrough after the World Cup break which was kind of a free hit.

“Since then he won his first home game which was important because they had drawn a lot of games at home.

“He’s improved them, they are playing better football under him, more passing and the way they attack.

“He has just come in, connected with the fans quite quickly as well. He deserves massive credit for how he’s come in and taken them on.”

How will Luton approach the first leg at the Stadium of Light?

“I don’t think they will be massively expansive to start with. I think they will play the situation, play the crowd.

“They can’t really go all gung-ho to start with because they know they are back at Kenilworth Road for the second leg.

“I also don’t think they’ll park the bus and just sit and hold out for a draw. I think they know with Sunderland’s attacking players that is probably not the best thing to do because that’s where the main threats are.

“They will try to keep it tight, not concede, but they’ll also try and counter and create chances.”

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Who are Luton’s key players?

MS: “They have a really good spine to the side.

“Obviously Carlton Morris has 20 goals for the season. He’s been a great signing for them.

“You have Marvelous Nakamba who has come in from Aston Villa on loan and he’s just been amazing as the holding midfielder in front of the back three.

“You have Tom Lockyer who has been the main defender this year, was in the Championship team of the year and has had a fantastic season.