Derby v Luton preview

Luton boss Kevin Blackwell is waiting till the last minute to assess the fitness of Matthew Spring, Sol Davis and Steve Robinson ahead of the match which could hammer in the final nail of Luton's championship coffin.

Ahmet Brkovic (eye), Dean Morgan (ankle) and Marlon Beresford (broken finger) will definitely miss the match.

Spring sustained a dead leg against Plymouth and looks the likeliest of the bunch of walking wounded to recover sufficuiently enough to play.

Blackwell said to lutontown.co.uk:

'He's (Spring)back training today so I'm hopeful he'll be in contention for tomorrow.'

'Sol's back in training so hopefully with another week under his belt he'll be fit for next Saturday.'

Robinson has been playing for some time with a back injury, which accounts for the fact that his form has been below par.

Blackwell said:

'He's having an epidural for a back problem that he's had for a considerable amount of time. He's tried to keep playing with it, but it's obviously a problem.'

On the subject of the match he said:

'They've got a chance to show not just me but the rest of the country that they are actually better than their results have shown.

'I would think it's a great opportunity for them to perform.'

Anything less than a win will relegate the Hatters while a win will give them a stay of execution at least until Saturday's results are known.

The manager continued:

'Both teams will go out under equal pressure. I'm sure Billy will be desperate to get automatic promotion because he hasn't had a lot of luck in the Play-Offs.

'Derby have invested heavily, but wisely, and they are now getting the rewards.'

On the return of Steve Howard to Kenilworth Road he said:

'I tried to sign him for Leeds. The lads must be aware of him - after all they have trained with him for the last three or four years, so hopefully that will be a bonus for us.'

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