DES Buckingham has warned that Luton Town will pose threats across their team as opposed to just ‘one or two players’.

The Hatters were relegated from the Premier League last season, finishing six points adrift of safety, but claimed victories against Everton, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion, plus a draw at home to Liverpool, during their solitary campaign back in the top flight.

Their return to the second tier hasn’t been smooth sailing though, with two wins from their opening seven games leaving the Hatters 19th in the table.

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Rob Edwards was appointed Hatters boss in November 2022, and guided the club to promotion via the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at the end of his first season.

Following relegation from the Premier League at the end of his first full campaign, Edwards signed an improved four-year deal with the Hatters in the summer, and Oxford United head coach Buckingham is full of respect for the job Edwards has done so far.

Buckingham said: “They’ve got a really good coach, but we’ll go down there as we have done with the seven games we’ve had so far, and try and put the best account of ourselves across.

“If we can play the way we have, or have a mixture of the games whether they be home or away, we’ll put ourselves in the best spot to come away with a performance, and hopefully therefore a result.

“They’re not a team that relies on one or two players. It’s a very good team, and you see the manager’s been there for a while.

“He’s been to assemble a good squad, and one that has real depth. They’ve got some very good players that they can call upon.

“We’re aware of that, as we were for Burnley at the weekend, but it’s about making sure we focus on ourselves.

“If we can set ourselves up well defensively, but also a bit more emphasis on us with possession, which we need to be a little bit better at than we were at the weekend, we’ll put ourselves in the best position to come away with something.”

Oxford Mail:

Buckingham added: “When you have success, you want to try and tie down people to the club. You’ve seen that with Rob, who did wonderfully well to get them out of the league and into the Premier League.

“People like Kieran McKenna [Ipswich Town] have done the same. He signed a new deal after getting them up.

“They had success and the club didn’t want to lose him, so they offered him an improved contract.

“It’s great that even though they [Luton] got relegated, clearly there’s a really close working relationship between him and the board.

“They’ve kept him, and I’m sure that will put them in the best position this year, to try and challenge and get back up.”