Know Your Opponent - Chris Brunt

Chris Brunt was born in Belfast on the 14th December 1984, and now plays his football for Sheffield Wednesday as a left winger, and has also won a handful of caps for his native Northern Ireland.

He grew up in Belfast, and attended Wellington College in the city. In his youth he played for St. Andrews FC youth football teams, winning himself trials at clubs such as Manchester Utd and Middlesbrough. He signed for Middlesbrough as a trainee on 1st August 2002, but over the next season and a half he failed to find a way into the first team, facing competition from the likes of Stuart Downing and Danny Graham.

In March 2004 he joined the then Division 2 side Sheffield Wednesday on a short-term loan, where he made 5 appearances, and getting himself his first professional goal in the process. He impressed enough during this time for Wednesday to offer Middlesbrough to take on his contract full-time, and on the 21st April 2004 on a 3 year deal, which has since been extended by a further 12 months.

The following season he helped Wednesday achieve promotion through the playoffs into the Championship, contributing 5 goals in 31 starts. During Wednesday's first season back in English Football's second tier, he was one of few players to impress in a struggling team and his 7 goals in 38 starts helped the side beat the drop.

He's played Luton 5 times during his career at Wednesday, being involved in 3 draws, a win and most recently a 2-0 defeat at the same fixture last season, and has not yet scored a goal against us.

Chris is known as a set-piece specialist, and Luton will have to pay close attention to his delivery from corners and shooting opportunities from set-pieces around the box. However, if Wednesday fans have any criticism for their left winger, its that sometimes he's a 'lazy' footballer, not bothering to track back or put in the hard yards, which could leave Carlos Edwards with a lot of space to run into.

Nevertheless, there's no doubt that he is a player who should be watched, and watched closely, as his ability from dead-ball situations, and the power of his left foot, will no doubt cause Luton some concern at some point during the match.

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