He looked like Sepp Meier

“It really is an opportunity missed and even before their lad was sent off I felt we could get back into the game,” Newell said. “And I felt we were unfortunate because the first goal was handball.

“We only had one shot on target of any real note after our second goal when a Steve Howard shot was tipped round the post but it is very difficult against ten men. We didn’t take advantage of the possession we had. We actually played better in the first half when we were up against eleven men and we looked more dangerous, but everything we hit during that first half went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper.”

Newell certainly had some sympathy for the Clarets over the red card for Jensen and added, “I think it is a silly rule, but it’s not the referee’s fault because they are just applying the letter of the law. The people who have made the rules have obviously never played the game or been in that situation themselves and we’ve seen it happen on a number of occasions.”

Steve Cotterill called his players into a huddle on the pitch at the end of the game, clearly proud of the way they had played, and he was still enthusing when he spoke after the game and declared it best ever win.

“I’ve just said to the lads that I’ve been lucky enough as a manager to have had a few good wins, but none better than that,” he said. “I’ve had some big wins at some big stadiums, but that is the best win I’ve ever had because of the circumstances.

“To come and win at Luton would have been very difficult under normal circumstances anyway and I would say, with a slight understatement, that it got a bit more difficult. I don’t think we would have conceded a goal today had we had Brian Jensen for all of the game, if you look at how the corners came into the box. Brian would have taken them.”

He didn’t want to say too much about the keeper’s dismissal other than to agree with counterpart Mike Newell’s thoughts. He said, “The least said about the sending off the better. It is not right for football, it is ridiculous and that will now cost us. We don’t have a sub keeper for financial reasons because Danny Coyne is out.” Then he added, jokingly I might add, “We might stick with Spice now in goal.”

He explained the reason for the hold up following the red card, “Michael Duff firstly, and then Graham Branch would be our goalkeeper in these circumstances, but they are both injured. That’s why we had the delay. The gloves looked fantastic on Spice, he looked like Sepp Meier in them.”

On hat trick hero Ade Akinbiyi he added, “A few people raised their eyebrows when we signed him, but they’ve probably got them shut now. I’ve said it before, he is an absolute gem and I love him, the players love him and a few of the girls in the office love him.

“Both of his first two goals showed his power and his pace and they were goals out of absolutely nothing. He tucked the penalty away well too. I said to him at half time to go and make sure he collected the match ball and his hunger and desire for it was fantastic.”

Steve though was delighted with all of his players and said, “It was fantastic character by the boys, I’m proud of them and it is good to go into the break on the back of that result. It has been a real uphill task from where we were a few weeks ago, so all credit to the players because they are the ones who have had to go out there every Saturday and Tuesday for the last few weeks. Luton are a good side and they will be there or thereabouts so that was a fantastic win for us.”