Luton defender Tom Lockyer is ready to "thrive" when Luton come to the SoL, in front of 45,000+ people. It will be the biggest crowd Luton have played in front of since 1985, when they lost 2-1 to Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park (45,289).
THRIVE IN BIG GAMES
“Enjoyable! I think you’ve got to thrive in the occasion otherwise it will pass you by. I’ve always enjoyed the bigger games and the bigger atmospheres, going to the lesser grounds and the lesser teams can be not as fun sometimes. The bigger games are what everyone looks forward to, but I think it’s one you have to thrive in or it might pass you by. It’s one to be enjoyed isn’t it, it will be amazing."
OCCASION
"We’ll have to handle the occasion, maybe whoever handles it better will come out better on the day, but it‘s one to look forward to. These games don’t come around often in a player’s career, so to be involved in these types of game is one you look forward to and one you’re going to remember at the end of your career.”
SILENCE THE CROWD?
“I think that will take some doing. The game’s on at half five and I think they’ll be in the boozer from nine or whatever! Like you’ve seen in the last game, one ref’s decision and a bit of magic from them can spark everyone back up again, so it’s going to be a tricky one for sure. That’s when you need calm heads sometimes."
PLAY-OFF EXPERIENCE
"We’ve got a good experience in the squad now, a mixture of youth and experience, so hopefully that helps, but with the play-offs, you never really know until you get in the moment. We’re trying to prepare as best we can, but ultimately play-off games are different to regular games, so it might be who handles it best on the day.”
ONE MOMENT IS ALL IT TAKES
“Like you’ve seen at their place, they had that penalty late on, which was never in a million years a penalty, everyone knows that, we’ve had the apology from the referee at the time. Before that, we were comfy and then after that we were backs against the wall and quite lucky to get away with just a point. That’s football for you, moments change games and hopefully we can handle the occasion better than the opposition and that will put us in good stead."
AWAY FANS
"I don't think you’ll know until we get out there and we see the fans, but that being said, if our away fans are anything to go by from last time as well, we can hear them all the way up in the heavens like we did last time, that will be fantastic as well.”
