Unsurprisingly Holloway stuck with the side that had played so well against Southampton. Royce was in goal behind Bignot, Santos, Shittu and Rose. Ainsworth, Lomas, Langley and Cook were in midfield with Baidoo and Furlong up front. There was no place on the bench for new signing Marcin Kus.

Rangers could have been behind as early as the fifth minute and had the post to thank for coming to their rescue. Kevin Foley drove down the right and there was little pressure on him as he hammered the ball into the box. Rose had a swing at it and sliced it onto the upright with Royce unable to intervene.

This scare seemed to sting Rangers into life and they tried to test The Hatters going the other way. Langley fired a freekick goalward that was gathered with ease by Beresford and then Bignot launched a raid down the right and played the ball into the path of Ainsworth. The winger, whose power packed shooting, seems to have deserted him these days, fired his shot over the bar when he really should have been testing the keeper.

Then before the quarter hour mark Rangers gave away a soft goal with some criminal defending. A corner in from the Rangers right wasn’t cleared properly and Underwood headed the ball back into the danger area. Markus Heikkinen had taken up a position in front of Royce and headed the ball goalward. As the Rangers arms went up for offside they turned to see Ainsworth standing dutifully by a post he was not supposed to be marking and playing the Finnish defender onside. It was seriously slack play by Ainsworth; he has to be more alive to what is going on around him.

Cook should have replied almost immediately when he skipped through two Luton challenge and bore down on Beresford’s goal. Once again though, the shot was wide of the target. Mind you it is all relative I suppose. Santos had one shot in the first half that was so wide it went out for a throw on twenty yards up the touchline! Luton came back with a header from Enoch Showunmi, a real fish out of water in midfield if ever I have seen one, which flew wide of Royce’s goal.

Marcus Bignot tried his luck from distance as the half drew to a close after jinking his way into a shooting position. The ball flew into Beresford’s midriff and he took it comfortably. Then, on the stroke of halftime, Luton had a goal harshly disallowed.

Rowan Vine sent a high cross into the Rangers box from the right flank and the two centre halves allowed Steve Howard to charge unchecked toward Royce. Both players went up for the ball and Howard got their before the R’s keeper to nod the ball into the empty net. As is standard these days, if a player touches the keeper it is a foul whether it is a foul or not. Having seen the replay of the incident there can be no doubt that the goal should have stood.

Rangers had dodged a bullet and the halftime introduction of Marc Nygaard in place of Shabazz Baidoo seemed to perk things up a little. Shabba had got little change out of the physical Coyne and Heikkinen and in truth he has probably played a lot more than Holloway would have wanted him to given the current injury issues. I think it might be time to let him have a few games on the bench to recharge his batteries.

Shortly after the break Furlong headed an Ainsworth shot wide of the goal in his first real involvement in the game. He then nodded a Lee Cook corner wide as Rangers continued their trend of not hitting the target when well placed. Just after the hour mark Furlong squandered his third chance of the game when he turned and shot. This time the effort did test Beresford but again he saved with the minimum of fuss.

Things had certainly picked up for Rangers and it was due in no small part to Nygaard. Even if he is not winning the ball he causes problems and he rattled Coyne’s cage as soon as he got on the field. It is just a shame that we cannot keep him vaguely fit as he adds a dimension to the team that other sides struggle to come to terms with.

Luton were celebrating in vain soon after when they had their second goal of the game ruled out. Steve Howard and Carlos Edwards had both forced Royce into saves before sub Warren Feeney fired home the third effort only to be adjudged to be offside at the time. For all the attacking that Rangers had done Luton still looked as though they would score every time they crossed the halfway line. It seemed to me that the midfield was not providing anything like the cover they gave against Southampton. That combined with some tepid displays in the back four meant that Luton’s front men were able to run riot almost at will.

Nygaard should have equalised after some great work from Rose on the left flank. He tricked his way past his man and sent in an inch perfect cross that looked too inviting for the big Dane to miss. His header was weak though and once again Beresford easily gathered the ball. It was a chance that you expected him to score given his supreme aerial ability.

Holloway made two curious changes as the game entered the final ten minutes. Firstly Ainsworth was replaced by Moore when most people would have rather seen Donnelly on. Then Bignot was replaced by Taylor when once again, most people wanted Donnelly on. The second change was bizarre; I fail to see the point of switching a full back for a full back with seven minutes left and being a goal behind. Just go for it for crying out loud!

Indeed it was Taylor that got undone as Luton did finally score their second of the game with five minutes left to play. Edwards blasted past Taylor with ease and pulled the ball back into the path of Howard. The big strikers shot wasn’t cleanly hit and Royce looked to have it covered until Shittu slid in to block and only served to deflect it home.

Neither side managed much at all after this and in truth a Luton win was the correct result. They carried a far greater threat in attacking areas even though the teams were pretty evenly matched in other areas. Aside from a twenty minute spell after halftime they looked capable of scoring at will. Rangers had as many chances as Luton but never looked like extending the veteran Hatters keeper.

The players now have a little over a week until a game against a Leicester City side that are in wretched form. They will get a chance to rest and hopefully the medical team can get some players fit and the management team can try and find us a striker that looks like getting a goal. Furlong looks shot, Nygaard is never fit, Moore looks desperately short of confidence and Baidoo looks to be feeling the weight of expectation. They need help. Badly.

simon@qprnet.com