Emotional Edward reflects on a 'difficult day' as Luton look destined to drop into the Championship

An emotional Luton boss Rob Edwards was left to reflect on a difficult day as Town were all but relegated from the Premier League this afternoon.

A 3-1 defeat at West Ham United means that realistically the Hatters will be playing Championship football next season, as although they remained three points behind Nottingham Forest, an inferior goal difference of minus 13 means it’s the second tier once more for the Hatters. At the full time whistle, the Town chief spent a lengthy period of time with the travelling supporters who stayed in their numbers, giving their players yet another in a long line of superb ovations.

Speaking to the press afterwards, Edwards said: “It’s really difficult, the final whistle there, giving Locks (Tom Lockyer) a hug nearly got me and then seeing how our supporters reacted, it made me emotional, I’m that kind of person. A really difficult, difficult day. What I said to our players and staff in the dressing room afterwards was thank you.

“They along with our fans, along with Gary and the board have given me the best 18 months of my life and I just wanted to thank them for today. We didn’t get relegated because of today, it was a combination of the whole season. Today was a difficult day but we’ve been on an incredible journey and I’m just really disappointed that I’m the one responsible in the end and feel that way as we’ve not been able to do it.”

At half time, it looked like Town had every chance of taking their hopes of staying up into the final game of the season, leading through Sambi Lokonga’s flying header from Alfie Doughty’s cross. However the second period saw the Hammers score through James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and George Earthy to end David Moyes’ final home game in charge with a victory.

Edwards added: “It’s difficult to process the game. I thought we showed some really good things to go one-nil up. The spaces were where we thought they would be and we showed at times some real good quality to get behind and get into some good areas. We were also a little bit loose and turned over too many balls and that allowed them to get a foothold in the game.

"They’ve got some real quality players and we felt half time was good, but they just came out with a purpose and we looked maybe a little bit leggy. The heat, the pressure, I’m not too sure, but ultimately their quality told. Once they went two-one up we rolled the dice and ended up with a lot of attackers on the pitch. We had to try and get something from the game and we weren’t able to. Credit to them, they’ve got some really good players and we came up short.”