Hatters gear up for Ipswich Town test

HATTERS will be looking to continue their impressive pre-season form when Championship side Ipswich Town visit Kenilworth Road this afternoon, writes Mike Simmonds.

Boss Paul Buckle said: “We’re hoping to see fitness levels kick on again and try and win the game.

“I think that’s been evident in the games so far. We’ve not been loose, we’ve been tight, organised and we’re looking to do that again.”

First team development coach Carl Emberson echoed those thoughts and is excited about the prospect of picking up a League scalp.

He said: “This is why we set fixtures out like this.

“It’s no good playing a lot of teams that you should be in theory beating, you have to ask questions of yourselves and say how good are we now?

“We’ve got a few good games with teams who are in the league above us.

“That’s the league we want to be in and if we can be better than them, we’ve got a great chance of winning promotion.

“That’s the way we look at it. It’s a real opportunity for the boys to shine against a League club.

“It will be a real good test, and a marker for where we’re at. We’ve shown we can press for 90 minutes and we’ll definitely know where we’re at in the next 10 days. Hopefully the boys will come through in flying colours.

“The atmosphere at Kenilworth Road should be pretty good and it should be a great game.”

The prospect of playing at home in front of Town’s fans once more is something that also appealed to Buckle after a great following in their first three away friendlies.

Over 1,000 Luton supporters went to the Hitchin and AFC Dunstable games, while there was a gate of 582 at St Albans on Monday.

He added: “It’s nice to get back to Kenilworth Road. It’s a great place to go and play our football and we love playing there.

“It’s been wonderful the support that they have showed, coming to look at the new players, it’s great to see and hopefully they’re enjoying what they’re seeing.

“We’ve got some good weather now to drag everyone out. We need these fans and I’m trying to bring everyone in together, let’s have a right go together.”

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our Hatters Microsite.

Related topics: