Mauricio Pochettino challenged his Chelsea players to match Luton’s fight and to expect “real football” at Kenilworth Road when the teams meet on Saturday.
The visitors have lost four in a row away from home in the Premier League and are without a win on the road since beating nine-man Tottenham early in November.
By contrast, Rob Edwards’ side go into the game off the back of their first consecutive victories of the season, having defeated Newcastle and Sheffield United to pull to within a point of safety.
A third straight win in the lunchtime kick-off would see them escape the bottom three at least until other sides play later in the day.
Plenty of big teams have struggled at Luton’s 11,500-capacity home ground this season, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City all falling behind, though the Hatters took only one point from those three fixtures.
Victory against Eddie Howe’s side saw them finally hold on for a famous win, adding to three points won against Crystal Palace in November, to put life into their top-flight survival bid.
Pochettino admitted the trip to Kenilworth Road appealed to the football romantic in him, but warned his team against expecting anything other than a fight to end their poor away run against Edwards’ buoyant side.
“I’m an old man, I am romantic,” he said. “I love football of the past and this kind of stadium makes you remember when I started to play.
“It’s a stadium that smells different. It’s not luxury in the way that we recognise luxury today. This type of stadium is one where you love to be there. It’s history, it’s completely different.
“Today we are living in a different era, but when you go there, you feel real football.
“We need to go to Luton thinking that it’s going to be really tough. The stadium, the fans, it’s a team that loves to fight and work really hard.
“If we want to get a good result, we need to be ready of course to play football, but we need to match the desire, the capacity to fight for every single ball. It’s going to be a good test for us.”
Chelsea will assess Mykhailo Mudryk and Romeo Lavia ahead of the game after both picked up injuries during Wednesday’s 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Mudryk was withdrawn with 20 minutes to play having scored his side’s opening goal in the first half, whilst Lavia could be seen struggling towards the end having been sent on for his debut for the final half-hour.
“Lavia felt some issue and we need to check,” said Pochettino. “I’m a little bit worried.
“I changed his position at the end because he was struggling to run. I hope it’s not a big issue. It’s going to be a shame if we can’t use him in the next few days.”
Pochettino confirmed that time off for the players over the new year will depend on what kind of result they return with from Kenilworth Road.
“That is the plan, to win and then give (them) one or two days off depending on the circumstance.”
Arsenal handed another injury blow as White ruled out for 'months'
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal defender Ben White is facing "months" on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury.
White had been dealing with several issues all season and has missed five games in all competitions for the Gunners already this term.
After struggling through until the November international break, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
It serves as a bitter blow for Arteta, with only Thomas Parety (13) making more interceptions than White (11) for Arsenal in the Premier League this campaign.
Though Arteta confirmed that the surgery was successful, White is set for a lengthy spell out of the team.
"It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately," said Arteta.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
"He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months."
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: "We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."
It offers a concern for Arteta in the full-back area, with the Spaniard also revealing on Friday that Takehiro Tomiyasu is "going to be out as well for a bit".
There was, however, some positive injury news for the Gunners ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on Saturday.
After not featuring for England during the international break, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be fit to feature against Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Leandro Trossard will also be available for Arteta despite picking up a hamstring injury during the international break with Belgium.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in contention for Saturday's game after a month out with a knee problem.
Conte hopes for Ranieri's success at Roma after Napoli clash
Antonio Conte hopes that everything will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A clash this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he began as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club sacked two coaches already this season and with the team 12th in the standings.
A trip to leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first task, and Conte is looking forward to meeting up with the 73-year-old.
"I am pleased to see Claudio, I have great esteem for him and there is also friendship," Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"I am happy with the chance he has been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year, Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
"They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything starts to work after Sunday's game."
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric brings with it not just the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also upsets Conte's plans for the game.
"When a team changes coach there is an important input on a nervous level," Conte said.
"They are at the third change on the bench. It's inevitable that, if Juric had remained, we knew what kind of team we were going to face.
"Now it's an enigma, we don't have much information nor do we know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path."
After a streak of 21 consecutive home wins in Serie A, Conte lost his last home league match (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two consecutive home defeats in the competition: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli are top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, which includes the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, for now, it is a different title race than usual.
"Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points," he said.
"We are doing well, but so are the others. There isn't one team which has distanced the others. Perhaps there is a little amazement in seeing some teams in those positions in the standings."
Martino resigns as Inter Miami coach after early playoff exit
Gerardo Martino has resigned as Inter Miami's head coach due to personal reasons, the MLS side have confirmed.
The Argentine ends his 17-month stint in charge of the Herons following their MLS Cup exit just under a fortnight ago.
Martino, who oversaw Miami's Leagues Cup triumph soon after his arrival last season, guided the franchise to this year's Supporters' Shield with a regular-season record tally of 74 points.
However, they were eliminated by his former side Atlanta United in round one of the MLS Cup playoffs.
Miami opened their best-of-three series against Atlanta with a 2-1 win, only to lose by the same scoreline in Game 2 before falling to a dramatic 3-2 defeat in the decider.
“It has been an honour to work at such a special club, and to lead such a special team," Martino said.
"I’ve enjoyed my stay at Inter Miami and will treasure the memories made and relationships forged here for the rest of my life.
"I depart with nothing but gratitude for my time here and would like to offer sincere thanks to everyone that made it possible."
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