Luton defender Lockyer wants Town to get rid of their 'unlucky losers' tag

​Luton defender Tom Lockyer is determined for his side to lose the tags of ‘unlucky losers’ in their battle to stay in the Premier League this term.

​The Hatters have been a breath of fresh air for the top flight so far, involved in some thrilling fixtures, none more so than their games with Arsenal and Liverpool at Kenilworth Road, plus a 4-4 draw against Newcastle United at St James’ Park. Despite earning a number of plaudits for the manner in which they have attacked their first season in the highest tier of English football for over 30 years, Luton have still lost 17 of their 29 encounters, although only six of them by more than one goal.

It means that with nine games to go, Town are just one point above Nottingham Forest due to the Reds’ recent points deduction, which saw them drop into the bottom three. Speaking to the BBC’s Monday Night Club, Lockyer, who played in 14 matches, before suffering a cardiac arrest at AFC Bournemouth in December, which he is now making a full recovery from, knows Luton have done superbly to change opinions of them this term, but wants that to equate to Premier League survival in May.

He said: “We should have a lot more points than we have. A lot of teams are going to feel that as well, but we’ve won the hearts of a lot of neutrals by playing the way we do, on the front foot. It has been good, it has been us, we haven’t had to put a bravado on to do all that, that’s just the way we’ve been since I’ve been at this club and how the club was before. But at the end of the day we don’t want to be unlucky losers. We wear our hearts on our sleeves, but we want to stay up and finish above that dotted line.”

Although the Hatters have been on the wrong side of the result in over half of their matches, they have never once lost the support from those in attendance, as Town’s supporters have played a huge part in helping their players get into a position where safety remains in their own hands for now. It was something that boss Rob Edwards was hugely grateful for, as speaking after the 1-1 draw against Forest before the international break, he added: “The fans were brilliant.

"I know towards the end of the game it’s petering out and we think we’re not going to find a way, so maybe a little bit of a lull, but they got right behind us again and they were brilliant when we were walking round applauding them at the end as well. They’re picking us up as much as we’re trying to get them going as well which is brilliant to see, because they’re right with it. They understand how difficult this is for us regardless of injuries and stuff like that anyway, I love them, they're brilliant.”