Ex-Luton Town man's honest Sheffield Wednesday prediction as Championship 'reality' hits relegated club

Former Luton Town forward Sam Parkin isn’t expecting one win to turn everything around at Kenilworth Road - but he does think the Hatters will have enough to beat Sheffield Wednesday.

Luton arrested their dismal start to the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Millwall last weekend, their first victory since dropping back into the Championship. Rob Edwards’ side are the worst-performing of those three relegated Premier League teams and sit above Wednesday by virtue of a superior goal difference.

Three defeats in four compounded misery among supporters who expected to be in and around the promotion picture come May, with the harsh reality of Championship football not easy to swallow. Wednesday are in a mini-slump of their own after four games without a win, and Parkin isn’t expecting a thriller at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

“I don’t think it’ll immediately turn around now for Luton,” he told the Championship Check-In podcast: “I saw a team that’s still lacking a bit of confidence in the second half at Millwall. Maybe it’s not confidence, maybe it’s the reality of being back in the Championship and having another 40 of these games to go.

“They’re not going to be playing on carpets in the winter. They’re going to have balls shelled in their penalty box. And maybe those Premier League moves didn’t materialise for some of the ones that attracted attention. I think it could be a grind, but I think they’ll win here. I will take Luton to beat Sheffield Wednesday by two goals to nil.”

Wednesday will need to start picking up wins if they want to avoid another tense relegation scrap, but will hope to be boosted by the return of a key player for Saturday’s trip to Luton. Dominic Iorfa missed games against Millwall and Queens Park Rangers due to injury but could be in contention to feature on Saturday after making ‘huge steps’ in his recovery.

Nathaniel Chalobah remains unavailable but should Iorfa return, Wednesday will boast a near clean bill of health for their long journey south. Luton have a similarly strong squad with no major issues.