Having come from behind to snatch a narrow advantage in the first leg of their Championship playoff semi-final, Sunderland make the trip to Kenilworth Road to renew hostilities with Luton Town on Tuesday night.

The Black Cats travel south with a 2-1 lead to protect from Saturday’s opener at the Stadium of Light, where a certain Manchester United loanee continued to be a shining light for Tony Mowbray’s side.

A fast start from Luton at the Stadium of Light was rewarded when Elijah Adebayo striked an 11th-minute opener following an almighty goalmouth scramble, but as Sunderland began to come forward in droves, the tide soon turned in the Black Cats’ favour.

With 39 minutes on the clock, Ethan Horvath was left powerless to prevent Amad Diallo’s splendid free kick from sailing into the back of the net, before Trai Hume powered a header home from Jack Clarke’s cross to send the home crowd into celebrations.

Unsurprisingly cutting a bullish figure after the game – insisting that the two-legged semi-final had only reached half time – Luton manager Rob Edwards welcomes a return to Kenilworth Road turf in the wake of his side’s 14-game unbeaten run coming to an end, with that end-of-season hot streak allowing the Hatters to nab the third and final podium place in the Championship table.

Luton’s territory was not a happy hunting ground for many visiting sides during the regular season, with the Hatters losing just four of their 23 home matches and winning five of their last six – the one blot being a goalless draw with Hull City last Monday.

Since the turn of the year, only West Bromwich Albion and Premier League-bound Burnley have got the better of Luton at Kenilworth Road, where the Hatters have shipped just two goals in the last six contests, but Sunderland are well-versed when it comes to away-day resilience.

Also stringing together their own unbeaten run to sneak into the sixth and final playoff spot – avoiding defeat in each of their final nine regular-season matches in the Championship – Sunderland are just 90 minutes away from seemingly unthinkable back-to-back promotions.

Saturday’s first leg marked the eighth game in a row in which Sunderland have scored, and while one clean sheet in six is not the most reassuring statistic, their exploits away from home make for positive reading for those in red and white.

The Black Cats ended the regular season with three away victories on the bounce – conceding just one goal in their last 450 minutes of football on rival territory – and a total of 39 points on the road could only be bettered by Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton.

Prior to Saturday’s contest, Luton and Sunderland had remarkably played out four consecutive 1-1 draws; also doing so in the 2018-19 League One season.

The fast rise of both clubs since those days in the third-tier doldrums has been admirable, but only one can vie for Premier League football against either Coventry City or Middlesbrough at Wembley on May 27.

Luton Town vs. Sunderland Head to head

In the 28 previous meetings between these two teams across all competitions, Luton have claimed nine victories while Sunderland have won 13, and they have drawn in six. Sunderland have scored 45 goals and conceded 47 in the process.

• 11/08/2018
  Luton Town

  1

  Sunderland

  1
  League One
• 12/01/2019
  Sunderland

  1

  Luton Town

  1
  League One
• 29/10/2022
  Luton Town

  1

  Sunderland

  1
  Championship
• 18/03/2023
  Sunderland

  1

  Luton Town

  1
  Championship
• 13/05/2023
  Sunderland

  2

  Luton Town

  1
  Championship