Our preview of Saturday's game against Luton...
Luton Town
Sky Bet League 2
Saturday 4th October
The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage, SG2 8RH
Kick-off: 3pm
Ticket news:
Saturday’s game is ALL-TICKET. If you don’t have a ticket/season ticket before matchday, you won’t be able to gain entry into the ground.
We have a handful of tickets remaining in the West Stand, whereas tickets are still available in the East and North Terrace.
Please note, you can only buy tickets from the club shop unless you have previous online history with us, in which case you can also buy online.
Tickets go off sale at 5pm on Friday.
Team news:
GW told the press on Thursday afternoon that whether or not Sam Beasant has fully recovered by Saturday, Chris Day will be between the sticks after a number of impressive performances since being thrust back into the team.
Other notable team news that the gaffer shared with us is that Dean Parrett's chances of playing are slim, as the rigors of his first start for the club in 6 months have taken affect on his body this week.
View from the dressing room:
Last season…
Luton finally won promotion from the Conference after five years of playing non-league football, as they strolled to the title in impressive fashion last season winning by 19 points.
They actually started the season pretty poorly, only scoring two goals from open play in their first eight games and it looked like it might be another season of woe at Kenilworth Road.
However, the 3-0 home win over Dartford in the middle of September started a historic 27 match unbeaten run to the league title as they broke club records with 101 points and 23 clean sheets.
So far this season…
Luton got off to another slow start at the beginning of the season as they only won one of their first seven games but they’ve found some form recently and have begun climbing the table. The last four games in the league have arguably made Luton the form side in the division after the Hatters have gone unbeaten with three wins, one draw and four clean sheets.
Recent form:
Familiar faces…
Two current players have plied their trade for both teams, the most prominent being Ronnie Henry who returned to Boro this season, two years after originally leaving Stevenage for Luton.
In 2012 after losing in the League One play-off semi-final, Ronnie Henry left Boro for Luton after seven years at the club. Henry was integral to Luton’s success in promotion to the Football League, captaining the team to the title last season before making the switch back to Stevenage.
Another player who’s played for both teams, Andy Drury, is likely to line-up against Boro for Luton four years after leaving Stevenage for Luton originally back in 2010.
Drury spent just one season with the Hatters before a big move to Ipswich in 2011, however things didn’t go quite as planned at Portman Road and he moved to Crawley after a couple of years. During the summer Luton were intent on re-signing Drury and they had to put three bids in before eventually getting their man.
Last time we met…
The two clubs have only met twice in the league, both back in 2009/2010 when Boro beat Luton to the title. In the first game a Scott Laird strike sealed the points for Stevenage at Kenilworth Road, whereas in the return leg it was Luton who were the victors.
With Boro leading their rivals by 5 points and a game in hand when Luton came to town in April, the emphasis was on Luton to claw back the deficit and make life uncomfortable for Boro. After an even contest which Boro could have easily won, Matthew Barnes-Homer scored only a minute after coming off the bench to snatch the points for Luton.
It was of little consequence in the end, as Stevenage won the following four games to confirm their league title and promotion to the Football League for the first time.
Stevenage: Day, Henry, Roberts, Ashton, Laird, Drury, Bridges, Bostwick, Odubade (Boylan 76), Sills (Griffin 68), Beardsley (Wilson 65)
Subs not used: Bayes, Byrom
Betting with SkyBet:
Official league sponsors, Sky Bet have Boro priced at 5/4 favourites on Saturday – up there with the best value across the Football League for a home favourite.
With clean-sheets very much on the agenda with both Luton and Stevenage recently, a 0-0 draw is 8/1 whilst a 1-0 Boro win is 6/1.
After his brace last weekend, it’s 33/1 for Chris Whelpale to repeat the feat whilst Whelps to be first goalscorer is 11/1.
Not going to the game?
Listen to live match commentary on the Boro Player service where you'll also find full match highlights and full post-match interviews on Saturday. We'll also be providing live minute-by-minute updates on our Twitter account, with the key incidents reported live on our Facebook page. The best match day photos will be posted on the club's Instagram account Short highlights of the game will be on our YouTube page on Sunday afternoon, whilst extended highlights will be available on Boro Player.