Hatters keeper knows Luton will have to get used to the pressure of being favourites in the Championship

​Luton goalkeeper James Shea knows his side will have to get used to a different kind of pressure this season following relegation back to the Championship.

The Hatters were underdogs in almost all of their 38 Premier League matches last term, as they came up against sides like Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, not even expected to get much when they took on teams such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford too. In fact the only time they were really considered genuine favourites for a game was when hosting Sheffield United at Kenilworth Road just after Christmas, turning in one of their poorest displays to lose the contest 3-1.

That will now change going into the 2024-25 campaign, with Rob Edwards’ men already installed as joint third with the bookies for the title alongside Middlesbrough, as they return to a division they went up from via the play-offs just over 12 months ago. On going into matches with supporters having growing levels of expectation that Town should be picking up results, Shea said: “I think that will be different and something to get used to when you’re going into games as favourites again.

"We’ll be expected to get a win and we’ve not had that for a long time. To be fair, when we had that last season, being favourites, it’s not always worked out for us, so it will be interesting to see how we get on again this season where we will be favourites for the majority of the games. You just want to start well, get off to a little bit of flier and get the momentum and get back to winning games, I think that’s what we’ve got to try and do.”

One thing that Town will have to improve on is the manner in which they threw points away when failing to escape the drop last term, conceding a number of goals in the closing stages of matches, as they eventually finished six points behind Nottingham Forest. Shea felt that could be attributed to the huge step-up in quality following promotion from the Championship, as he continued: “Every player’s an athlete (in the top flight), that’s what they are.

"I remember when we went from League One to the Championship, that jump was a massive one and now you’re going from the Championship to the Premier League and it’s double. It wasn't just us, you see Sheffield United and Burnley, they came up as well and they found it just as tough, just as hard. We competed really well and the amount of games we lost by the odd goal here, the odd goal there, games could have easily gone our way.

"When you look at it, we threw a lot of points away, barring Nottingham Forest away (2-2), where I think we’ve nicked something. You look at we could have beaten Liverpool, could have nicked a point against Arsenal, nicked a point against Villa when we came back from 2-0 down, they go and score, so we threw a lot of points away, but you’re playing against the best teams in the world, you’ve got to be focused for 100 minutes.

“We took it down to pretty much the last game of the season. All the so-called experts had us down by Christmas and we were the best of the three that had come up, so we’ll go again next year and hopefully we’ll be right up there again.”

With the transfer window now open, it might be a different squad that the Hatters enter the new campaign with after rumours that Ross Barkley, Elijah Adebayo, Teden Mengi and Gabe Osho could all be leaving for pastures new. Whatever happens, Shea backs those who are at Kenilworth Road when the new campaign gets underway to put up a real challenge, adding: “People will want to be back there, so the only way you’re going to get back there is by getting promoted through the Championship again.

"We’ve shown we’ve competed with the best teams in the world, so we’ve got to go and do the same again next year. I don’t see why we can’t, I really don’t see why we can’t. You’ve got boys who have been there done it and worn the t-shirt so they know what it’s like. A 46-game season going Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, they know what it’s all about. So I’m really looking forward to seeing how we do next season to be honest.

"Hopefully we can keep the group together. Of course we’re probably going to lose one or two, with the loan boys going back as well, but we've done it once (got promoted), we can do it again. The club’s in a fantastic position financially on and off the pitch, they don't have to sell, but listen if clubs are coming in with silly offers that you can't turn down, you've got to do what’s best for the club.

If we can keep the majority of the boys together, I don’t see why we can’t be right up there again. The goal next year is to get back to the Premier League, no matter how you do it, you’ve just got to do it. Everyone wants to win games, but we’ll have the group to do it. We’ll have the players, the players will know what they have to do and there’s no reason we can’t do it.”