Decision hands Luton Town key boost for finale at West Brom
Luton Town midfielder Liam Walsh is available to held his side seal Championship safety at The Hawthorns after a suspension was rescinded.
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Walsh, 27, was dismissed as Matt Bloomfield's side clocked up a third win on the spin over Coventry last weekend.
The Hatters earned a dramatic 1-0 victory via a stoppage-time winner after Walsh, who was booked, was shown a straight red card for a push midway through the second half. Both sides had 10 men in a feisty affair.
Bloomfield said immediately afterwards the ban for Walsh's third red card of the season would be appealed and the Football Association this week confirmed the decision was overturned.
The former Everton and Bristol City man's availability is a boost for Luton in their final-day quest against Albion to stave off the drop having put themselves one place clear of the bottom three with a remarkable and timely trio of wins. The lunchtime clash at The Hawthorns, which is televised on Sky, will see the Hatters bring a sold-out away contingent to the Smethwick End.
Bloomfield said in the wake of Walsh's controversial dismissal: “From my point of view we will be (appealing), absolutely. It’s not a red card, he’s barely put any hands on him. The lad’s gone down making a meal of it holding his face, it’s disappointing to see things like that."
The Hatters doubled their tally of three Championship victories between January and March in a sensational turnaround of results from the Easter period having looked sure-fire bets for relegation.
Bloomfield, who was appointed from Wycombe to replace Rob Edwards in mid-January, took until March 1 to record a first win and results thereafter have been more consistent.
But it was the crunch 1-0 victory away to relegation rivals Derby on Easter Friday that truly got the great escape ball rolling.
Luton backed that up with an impressive 3-1 Easter Monday home win over play-off chasing Bristol City and repeated the trick by downing another top-six chaser last weekend in the Sky Blues. They are now a point clear of Hull and the bottom three.
Midfielder Shandon Baptiste came up with the crunch stoppage-time winner last weekend while strikers Carlton Morris and Millenic Alli have been in the goals, as well as highly-regarded duo Isaiah Jones and Thelo Aasgaard.
Experienced midfielder Jordan Clark, who recently collected four awards at the club's end of season presentation, returned from injury last weekend, as did the versatile Kal Naismith.
