Hatters boss expects Luton's walking wounded to put their bodies on the line against Toffees

Luton boss Rob Edwards knows some of his squad will have to put their bodies on the line during their final three Premier League games of the season, starting at home to Everton on Friday night.

The Hatters ended last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers with a number of players forced to play through the pain barrier, none more so than defender Gabe Osho, who was noticeably struggling to move freely during the latter stages of the contest. He is expected to be okay to face the Toffees at Kenilworth Road though in a game that Town must win in order to give their chances of staying up this season a real shot in the arm.

Speaking today, Edwards said of Osho and his defensive team-mates Teden Mengi and Reece Burke: “He was (struggling), and the three of them were feeling quite a bit. Gabe we’ve had to manage quite a bit through the week, but he’s come through today. We’re going to need it (players to put their bodies on the line) and especially tomorrow against Everton.

"We know what kind of questions they’re going to ask of us. Physically we’re going to have to be really, really strong and match that side of it. They make it that kind of game, but I’m not making them purely physical. They’ve got some really talented footballers as well. Dwight McNeil has been performing really, really well, (Jack) Harrison, (Abdoulaye) Doucouré. As well as that power and pace they’ve got some real technically good players who rotate, drift into different spaces, and cause problems. They've got a nice blend and it’s working for them at the moment, we’ve got to stand up to that.”

With striker Elijah Adebayo potentially fit enough to start, Edwards downplayed the chances of Chiedozie Ogbene being able to join him in the squad, but that had been the case when asked about Adebayo last week, the forward ending up making the bench at Molineux. The boss added: “Not tomorrow no (for Ogbene), he's still not ready. It’s just where we were at really for the last game. Eli featured against Wolves, so that was a positive, and we’re pretty much where we were last week.”