Nahki Wells has stated his Luton Town teammates are focused on putting themselves in the best place possible as their playoff hopes hang by a thread.
The Hatters are on the outside looking in when it comes to finishing in the top six come the end of play, and must hope that either they can get a better result than Stevenage, who play Wigan Athletic, or that they win and Bradford City lose against Exeter City in order to put themselves over the dotted line.
The former may not even be enough with Plymouth Argyle also still in contention, and a win for the Pilgrims combined with dropped points for both Luton and Stevenage would afford Tom Cleverley’s side a shot at Wembley glory.
Wells Sets Expectations
Town have the toughest test of all their playoff rivals on the day, facing third-placed Bolton Wanderers in Lancashire, with the Trotters eyeing a second-leg home advantage in the semi-finals after securing a playoff place last weekend.
Speaking to the Royal Gazette ahead of their showdown with Steven Schumacher’s side, Nahki Wells has stated that his side will be in the zone by the time they travel to Greater Manchester.
“We go away to Bolton knowing that we must win, and that’s where our focus lies.
“We will see where that gets us, but we believe and we understand that we’ve not come this far to fall at the last hurdle, so we will be as prepared as possible.
“We go away to Bolton knowing that it is somewhat out of our control. But equally we have to control our controllables and that is we have to go to Bolton and win, so that’s where our mindset will be this week.”
Can Luton Get Themselves Over The Line?
Entering the final day in a less-than-ideal position in terms of their hopes of a playoff place, Luton Town have the unenviable task of facing Bolton Wanderers away from home.
The Trotters will be certain to want to spoil the day, as allowing Luton to gain confidence ahead of potentially playing them a further two times will be far from ideal for their own hopes of a place in the Championship.
Town cannot allow Wanderers to play the free attacking football they have shown over the past few weeks, which has seen Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny score in each of his past five appearances.
On top of that, they will need to find favours elsewhere, the best chance of which is probably with Nahki Wells’ former club Bradford City as they face Exeter City, who are in their own battle for survival.
Ultimately, Luton will have to win their own battle and put themselves in the best place possible, rather than rue the missed chance should one of their routes into the top six have been opened by the final whistle of the League One season.
