FA Cup: Can Luton Town expect another Cup Run this season?

With Christmas around the corner, and whilst the FIFA World Cup still means theres a pause in Championship games, Luton fans will be watching eagerly at tonight's FA Cup Third Round Draw, which will be held tonight at 7pm on BBC Two.

But whoever Luton Town are drawn against (Luton will be ball 22), we ask this: can we repeat the same run that we had in the Cup that we went on last year? Many will forget that the FA Cup Run started with a comfortable 4-0 win over newly promoted League Two side Harrogate Town, which also saw the welcome return of Mick Harford back to the club following his battle with Prostate Cancer. This was then followed up by a rather routine 3-0 win away at Cambridge United, which gave us a spot in the fifth round for the first time since 2013.

That then led to our night out vs European and World Champions Chelsea to the Kenny, where Reece Burke's header and Harry Cornick meant Luton led twice before losing 3-2 to the Premier League side.

Apart from a memorable run to the Fifth Round in 2013 back when we were still in the Conference, Luton haven't had much success in the FA Cup over recent years, only making it past the Third Round stage on one other occasion, where we lost away to Chelsea on a snowy Sunday lunchtime away at Stamford Bridge. That being said, a Cup Run for Rob Edwards could provide an opportunity for him to develop his vision for this side and to begin to mould the side for 2023.

Considering Luton Town reached the Final way back in 1959, it would be exciting if we were to reach past the the Fifth Round again and begin to dream of days out to Wembley. However, the draw tonight may hand us a fortunate tie against lower league opposition, or a home game against a Premier League club. We can only dream.

The interesting thing about the FA Cup this time around is that the Hatters now possess strength in depth all across the pitch (apart from at centre-back), meaning that Luton are likely to still field a strong squad against whoever they are tasked with coming up against.