Osho reveals Luton’s players felt 10-times bigger than Sunderland during play-off win

Luton defender Gabe Osho revealed Town’s players felt like they were 10-times bigger than their Sunderland counterparts during Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory which saw them power their way to a 3-2 aggregate win and Wembley play-off final against Coventry City.

With the visitors struggling for defenders, Danny Batth, Dennis Cirkin and Dan Ballard all absent, with Aji Alese only fit enough for the bench, Black Cats manager Tony Mowbray had been worried about the aerial threat that the Hatters would possess on the night and he was right to be.

Town took full advantage of their clear dominance, getting the ball in the box from wide areas as much as possible with real quality, taking the lead from their first corner, as they had done at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, through Elijah Adebayo, this time, Osho himself turning home.

Defensive partner Tom Lockyer then made it 2-0 before the break, heading home from Alfie Doughty’s terrific right wing cross, as Sunderland simply couldn’t cope with the performances of Carlton Morris and Adebayo in particular, which were lapped up by a raucous Kenilworth Road crowd.

Asked if Luton had put a real emphasis on their set-pieces ahead of the decider, Osho said: “Yes, there was.

“I don’t know what it looks like on the TV, but I felt like we were just 10 times bigger than all of them.

“In the first game, the first goal came from that and we knew that was something we were going to be able to use, but after the first goal we didn’t really do it as much.

“Today we knew that was going to be a really important factor in the game for us.

“We really utilised that, we could have scored a couple more from it probably.”

With Luton trailing 2-1 from the opening leg, then an early goal was absolutely vital to key into what was already an electric-charged atmosphere on the night, and it came with just 10 minutes on the clock from the boot of Osho, who was positioned in the right place to prod over the line when Lockyer had met Jordan Clark’s left-wing corner.

Having scored the opener in the 2-0 victory over fierce rivals Watford last month, the former Reading youngster is clearly the man for the big occasion now, although modestly put his third of the season down to mere good fortune rather than any natural poaching instincts.

He continued: “I just stand around and hope the ball falls to me and it did fortunately.

“I think Locks may have headed it on, but we knew if we just got the ball into their box and made them defend they might struggle as we are a much physically stronger side than them.

“I think we really utilised that and I was happy to get the goal.

“I’ll take that, I just stand around half the time, it doesn’t hit me, sometimes it does, I’ll take what I can get and I’m happy.

“Yes, I will (watch it back). It still hasn’t sunk in, I’m just thankful for the opportunity to play and to score.”

With the atmosphere already at fever pitch ahead of kick-off, the Town faithful created a cauldron of noise for their heroes throughout the entire 90 minutes, who responded in turn with a terrific display.

Having witnessed what it was like when sworn enemies Watford had been in town during the regular league season, Osho praised the supporters for replicating that once more, and possibly taking it to the next level.

He added: “It was crazy, it’s hard when you’re playing as you don’t really get to take it in as much, but it was crazy.

“Every attack the fans were behind us, every tackle the fans were behind us, and I think that kind of atmosphere, they had it in the reverse fixture, and we knew going in, we’d have it.

“I was asking the boys what they think (if it was better than Watford), it’s tough when you’re playing as you really just focus on the game.

“I think it was similar, I can’t say for sure, but the fans made it special.

“The fans were really important for us and we knew that they would be, so I’m just happy with their turnout as well.”