Meet the opposition | Luton Town
As Swansea City get set to face Luton Town, we take a closer look at the Hatters.
What’s their story?
Luton Town are back in the Championship after spending a solitary season in the Premier League last term.
Their previous top-flight appearance had come during the 1991-92 season, when they were relegated on the final day of the campaign.
They’ve been at Kenilworth Road since 1905, having been founded 10 years earlier, while their biggest piece of silverware came via the League Cup in 1988.
Financial difficulties between 2007 and 2009 saw them fall from the second tier to the fifth in successive seasons. After five seasons in non-league, they were promoted in 2014, and successive promotions in League Two and League One soon followed.
Rob Edwards then completed their rise at the end of their fourth season in the Championship as they beat Coventry City on penalties in a dramatic play-off final.
How's their form?
Luton were fancied to be among the promotion contenders but have endured a challenging start to the season and sit in the lower reaches of the table.
Recent form has been up and down. They had won two of their last six heading into the festive period, but had suffered heavy losses to Norwich City and Leeds United, as well as a 2-0 defeat at Blackburn.
They were beaten 1-0 by Bristol City on Boxing Day and have lost their last eight away games.
Who’s the gaffer?
Rob Edwards. The former defender has been in charge of Luton since November 2022 succeeding Nathan Jones when the Welshman made the switch to Southampton.
The 41-year-old started his playing career with Aston Villa, and went on to have spells with Crystal Palace, Derby County, Wolves, Blackpool, Norwich, Barnsley, Fleetwood and Shrewsbury before moving into coaching at Molineux after being forced to hang up his boots by injury.
He had stints with Telford and with the England youth set-up before becoming Forest Green Rovers boss in the summer of 2021 and leading them to promotion to League One.
That attracted the attention of Watford, who moved for the ex-Wales international to lead their efforts for an instant return to the Premier League.
However, he was barely given any time at Vicarage Road, and Luton benefited when he took the reins for the Hatters and led them to the Premier League.
Who’s the captain?
Wales international Tom Lockyer is the club captain for Luton, but is in the process of working his way back to match fitness after suffering a cardiac arrest in a Premier League game against Bournemouth last season.
In his absence, striker Carlton Morris has been skippering the side.
Norwich academy product Morris joined the Hatters following Barnsley’s relegation from the Championship in 2022 and starred as they reached the Premier League.
At Carrow Road he had loan spells with Oxford, York, Hamilton, Rotherham, Shrewsbury and MK Dons – playing under Luke Williams and Russell Marrtin at the latter.
He has scored 37 goals in 115 appearances in total for Luton.
Who are the key men?
Forward Elijah Adebayo is second on Luton's list of scorers this season with five goals to his name, behind only stand-in skipper Morris, who has netted six times.
The 26-year-old came through the youth ranks at Fulham, and had loan spells with Slough, Bognor Regis, Cheltenham Town, Swindon Town and Stevenage before making a permanent switch to Walsall.
In two seasons he netted 18 league goals in 55 appearances, and he was snapped up by Luton in January 2021 in their first season back in the Championship.
He has since made just over 160 appearances and scored 47 goals for the Hatters, with three of those coming in a 4-0 win over Brighton last season that made him the first Luton player to score a Premier League hat-trick.
He had a slow start to the current campaign, but has shown signs of finding his best form in recent weeks.
Experienced midfielder Jordan Clark has three goals and two assists under his belt this season.
He has been with Luton since 2020, having first broken through at Barnsley 13 years ago.
Clark had loan spells with Chesterfield, Scunthorpe United and Hyde before making the switch to Shrewsbury in 2014.
Two years later – which included promotion from League Two with the Shrews - he joined Accrington Stanley and win the League Two title with them in 2018.
Clark has made over 150 appearances for Luton during his time at Kenilworth Road.
Defensive midfielder Tom Krauss has made a strong start to life in the Championship after joining from Mainz in the summer.
The Leipzig-born player has four assists so far this season and has shown a sharp mix of defensive and attacking attributes.
Having come through the RB Leipzig system, he reached the senior ranks but also had loan spells with FC Nurnberg and Schalke.
He was unable to help Schalke avoid relegation from the top-flight, and so made the move to Mainz in that summer of 2023.
The Germany Under-21 international is on loan with the Hatters for the 2024-25 campaign.