Hatters matters... a word from the editor

SO we’ve made it to our first Wembley final for 20 years. Are you finding it hard to get too excited about the the Paint Pot Trophy though, especially when you look at the bigger picture?

Yes, it’s welcome income and a chance for a high-profile protest against the FA at the home of English football, but how much celebrating can you do when you know life as a league club is gradually being sucked out of us?

We’re fast running out of games and while the gap to safety remains around the 20-point mark, it looks as though those who wrote us off at the start of the campaign were right.

Back in August when we began Mission Impossible the HTO team was convinced we could lift ourselves away from trouble. Yes, we’ve had injuries to key players, but, even so, without the points deductions a tally of 32 would’ve still seen us in the lower reaches of the table – and that would’ve been seen as abject failure.

You could argue that the pressure of the negative points tag has had a certain influence on the way the results have shaped up. However, on the flip side, surely being cast so far adrift from the start put expectations lower and there was nothing to lose.

Now we’re in February with just 17 games to go, we’re going to have a dramatic upturn in form. Still, we must keep plugging away. Who knows, maybe other teams will end up in administration and have 10 points chalked off before the season ends.

Perhaps the boost reaching Wembley has given us can kickstart a miraculous escape from relegation? Now, where did I put that inflatable banana 20 years ago!

TEXT your verdict on today's game to 84070 (start your message with LDNEWS followed by a space and then add your view on the action) alternatively EMAIL orange@bedsnews.com The best messages will be featured in the sports pages of the Luton News/Dunstable Gazette... on sale every Wednesday, priced 45p