Coventry 0-0 Luton LIVE: Osho has early goal ruled out but Lockyer leaves Wembley pitch on stretcher
The Championship play-off final, the richest match in world football, takes centre-stage this afternoon as Coventry City face Luton Town at Wembley.
The Sky Blues will battle the Hatters for the final Premier League promotion spot having been in League Two together in the 2017/18 season.
England's top-flight is the richest in the world with a huge cash injection being the prize for a second division club each year.
- Live commentary: talkSPORT website stream HERE, via the app HERE
- Coventry: Wilson, Doyle, McFadzean, McNally, Bidwell, Norton-Cuffy, Kelly, Hamer, Sheaf, Allen, Gyokeres
- Subs: Moore, Panzo, Wilson-Esbrand, Dabo, Godden, Eccles, Palmer
- Luton: Horvath, Drameh, Lockyer, Bell, Osho, Doughty, Nakamba, Mpanzu, Clark, Morris, Adebayo
- Subs: Shea, Potts, Berry, Burke, Campbell, Onyedinma, Taylor
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Coventry 0-0 Luton 11′ – Lockyer is now onto the stretcher and is being taken off.We hope he is OK as Burke prepares to enter the field.It’s still unclear exactly what happened but he collapsed with no one anywhere near him, which is concerning.Ashton: “It’s not great for the players on the pitch, it’s unsettling. But they’ve got to get their heads back into the game now – get their minds focused on what they’ve got to do.”
Coventry 0-0 Luton
9′ – We have now had a very lengthy stoppage and there is real concern here for Lockyer.
The medical team are all around him and trying to do what they can.
Coventry 0-0 Luton
7′ – This looks worrying for Lockyer!
The captain went down off the ball and a stretcher is now being waved onto the pitch.
Edwards has come onto and dragged his players away for a team talk.
Coventry 0-0 Luton5′ – Luton have the ball in the back of the net, but it’s not going to count!Lockyer heads it down towards Osho and he forces it over the line, but the defender was offside and the goal has been ruled out, but Luton are such a threat from set pieces.
Coventry 0-0 Luton
4′ – Clark wins the Hatters’ first corner of the game.
Lockyer, Osho and Bell are forward…
Coventry 0-0 Luton
3′ – Osho, playing on the right of the back three, looks up and fires a ball into Morris’ feet but he’s offside and the attack breaks down.
Coventry 0-0 Luton
2′ – The atmosphere inside Wembley is deafening and it’s Luton that have started the better, playing a few direct long balls that the Sky Blues have just about dealt with.
Coventry 0-0 Luton – Kick-off
The Hatters get us underway kicking from right to left at a sold out Wembley.
Coventry vs Luton
The referee is Michael Oliver. The Sky Blues are in their traditional home kit, while the Hatters are in their orange tops and blue shorts.
Coventry vs Luton
The teams are out and we are moments away from kick-off, but first, the national anthem.
Coventry vs Luton
Both sets of fans are making this a special day and we haven’t even started yet!
Coventry vs Luton
Luton’s Tom Lockyer speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the game, said: “Wembley is such a special place, but it’s either really good or really bad.
“We hope to put the fairytale ending to this story and we are going to go out and do what we can.”
Coventry vs Luton
Ahead of the game, two giant murals have been unveiled outside Wembley Stadium, telling the story of Coventry City and Luton Town’s journey to the final, with the remaining section ready to be filled in for the victors.
The artist is John Culshaw and the pieces have been commissioned by Sky Bet.
Check them out here!
Coventry vs Luton
There are so many incredible stories leading up to this match, but one of the best belongs to Luton’s Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu.
The midfielder has played with the Hatters since the club were in the National League, and should Luton win, he will become the first player to make it from non-league to the top flight with the same club.
Coventry vs Luton: Pre-match facts
- Coventry have won three of their four matches at Wembley Stadium in all competitions, winning the 1987 FA Cup final (3-2 v Spurs), 2017 EFL Trophy final (2-1 v Oxford) and 2018 League Two play-off final (3-1 v Exeter). Their only defeat at the ground came in the 1987 Charity Shield against Everton (0-1).
- Luton have lost 12 of their last 15 games in London in all competitions (W2 D1) – they’ve kept a clean sheet in the three games they’ve avoided defeat but conceded 40 goals in those 12 defeats.
- Coventry have lost just one of their last 19 matches coming into this game (W9 D9), a run which started with a 1-1 draw against Luton. Their only defeat in that time was a 4-0 home loss to Stoke, while they haven’t lost outside of the Midlands since January (0-1 v Burnley).
Coventry vs Luton
It’s getting very loud in here as we get closer and closer to the game getting underway.
Coventry vs Luton
This game will also see two of the Championship’s deadliest strikers come face-to-face.
Viktor Gyokeres has bagged 21 goals and provided 11 assists this year and talkSPORT understands he has been identified by Brentford as an Ivan Toney replacement.
However, if he guides the Sky Blues to promotion, why would he leave!
Meanwhile, the Hatters have Carlton Morris leading the line.
The striker is an absolute bull and has bagged 20 goals this year.
Coventry vs Luton
What a team we have for you today!
Coventry vs Luton
This match has been described as one for the ‘romantics’, and given what these clubs have been through, that is a worthy title.
The Hatters have never played in the Premier League and were last in the top flight in 1992, the last season before the Premier League was established.
Meanwhile, it’s been 22 years since the Sky Blues competed at the top of English football, so this is going to be an emotional day.
Coventry vs Luton
It’s starting to get very busy now!
Coventry vs Luton: Pre-match facts
- Luton Town are looking to reach the Premier League for the first time, with their most recent top-flight season coming in 1991-92 when they finished 20th. The side finishing third has failed to win promotion in five of the last eight Championship play-off finals they’ve competed in; the others are Norwich City in 2014-15, Fulham in 2017-18 and Brentford in 2020-21.
- Coventry are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2000-01, when they were relegated under Gordon Strachan. They had played in 34 consecutive top-flight campaigns before that.
- Luton have lost five of their seven games at Wembley, with this their most recent game at the national stadium since the 2012 Conference play-off final against York, losing 2-1 despite taking the lead in the second minute via Andre Gray. Their two wins at Wembley have been in the 1988 League Cup final against Arsenal and 2009 Football League Trophy final against Scunthorpe, both 3-2 wins.
Coventry vs Luton
However, it’s also been a very rough road for the Sky Blues, and just five years ago, they were playing against today’s opponents in League Two.
They both earned promotion to League One in 2018, and here they are for a one-off match of immense proportions.
The winner will claim a prize that would mean everything, while the loser would be left devastated.
It is a game like no other, which you can read more about here.
Coventry vs Luton
The Hatters have endured a miserable last 20 years or so and were in the National League as recently as 2014.
The club has been to hell and back, but now, they are one game from sealing £170million.
And ahead of the match, talkSPORT’s Faye Carruthers discussed her beloved Luton.
She said: “We’ve always had this, I don’t want to say siege mentality, but we’ve always been very much backs-against-the-wall and everybody associated with Luton Town has had that attitude and the determination to get the club back to where we believe it belongs.
“That took hard work, team work, dedication and amazing spirit. That’s what my club has behind the scenes. Then you see that on the pitch. We recruit a certain type of player that gets it.
“There are plenty of Championship players that I’m sure would love to be in a club where the facilities are shiny and new at the stadium and things like that. The training ground is incredible but that wasn’t always the case.
“We’ve got together an incredible group of players and that’s just added to the incredible group of people behind the scenes.”
You can read more from Carruthers here.
Coventry vs Luton
The Sky Blues have travelled down in their tens of thousands, but they could face a real struggle getting back.
An urgent travel alert was issued by Wembley Stadium and Chiltern Railways last night after the rail company revealed they were ‘over-subscribed.’
This means 50% of the people who have booked to return via Chiltern won’t be able to get on their trains.
This is a total shambles and you can read more about the situation here.
Coventry vs Luton
Wembley Way is a sea of sky blue and orange as we slowly approach kick-off!
