Edwards took Luton Town to the Premier League for the first time in their history
Rob Edwards couldn’t hide his emotions when speaking about Luton captain Tom Lockyer after he was shown a picture of him celebrating from a hospital bed.
Lockyer collapsed in the first half of the Hatters’ play-off final victory against Coventry City on Saturday, falling to the floor before finding himself unable to get up.
Medical staff immediately got onto the pitch at Wembley Stadium and stretched the 28-year-old off, who was conscious and was wearing an oxygen mask.
After being taken to the stadium’s medical room, Lockyer was then transferred to a hospital in north London to undergo further tests and was joined by his family.
At full time the defender’s dad posted a picture of him and his family celebrating the promotion from the hospital and Edwards admitted that his skipper was the inspiration behind the 6-5 penalty shootout win.
“Locks has been immense for us this season and health is the most important thing, family is the most important thing, more important than football, more important than this,” he told Sky Sports.
“He is all that matters. It felt a little bit wrong to celebrate at the time, I just felt emotional.
“The staff were so good at half-time. They said to the players he was OK. They were able to calm everyone down. I backed that up and it was a case of business and focus and, ‘We’re doing it for Locks’. That was the message.”
Describing the moment that Lockyer collapsed, Edwards said: “‘I just took the players away to refocus. Got them together and said, ‘Tom is coming off’. I said then as well, ‘Do it for him, focus’.
“We’d also lost our captain and leader in our back three. But the way the players responded was brilliant.”
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