MATCH PREVIEW: LUTON TOWN V WREXHAM
Richard Money has called for fans who celebrated here after Tom Craddock's winner against Forest Green to become Town's 12th man
Hatters manager Richard Money has told fans to rally round his team and get behind the promotion push starting at Kenilworth Road tomorrow when Wrexham visit.
After Tuesday's 2-1 win over Forest Green Rovers the Luton boss hit out at the boo-boys who jeered his team when the score was 1-1, before Tom Craddock spared Town's blushes with a last minute winner. It was a goal that saw the club climb to third in the Blue Square Premier.
"An awful lot has been said about Tuesday night and I'm not going to say anything more other than I was very grateful that the players came up with right result for which they deserve a great deal of credit," said Money. "I'm not being disrespectful but when was the last time Luton were involved in a promotion campaign? Embrace it.
"There will be disappointments and wobbles along the way, but rest assured we have a group here that will do everything they can to get us the right results.
"Everyone needs to stick with us. Having 7,000 people through the door should be our 12th man and not our biggest hindrance.
"Obviously there is an onus and duty on the players to go and perform but we are all very excited about the last 11 games of the campaign."
The manager highlighted Dean Saunders' Dragons as an example of how hard the Conference is to get out of, and insists that the Welsh club are a much tougher proposition than than their league position (12th) suggests.
"We think this is a top-five game," he said. "We recognise it as a major fixture and a dangerous one.
"It's going to be very Oxford-esque. It's going to be tough match. I don't think anyone can believe that Wrexham aren't in the top five.
"Therein lies the problem everyone faces. Wrexham are a prime example that it is not easy to get out of this league even if you spend a lot of money trying to.
"That's why our supporters need to embrace this promotion campaign and drive us on because you have got to take every opportunity that comes your way."
Money's immediate focus is taking the opportunity of three points tomorrow, but he is cautious about talk of automatic promotion despite results going their way in the week and the gap closing.
He said: "We're not thinking about the top two. "We can't control that but we can put distance between ourselves and the teams below us.
"That's what we can control. And if we can put pressure on the teams above us as a result then so be it."
There is no new squad news with Liam Hatch and Adam Newton still unavailable and news that Kevin Nicholls will miss the remainder of the season and could be out for up to eight months after knee surgery yesterday.