Brentford must prevent Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley from turning on the style during Saturday’s meeting at Kenilworth Road, says Hatters reporter Mike Simmonds.

The former Everton and Chelsea player has nine goal involvements (5G, 4A) in 28 Premier League appearances this season and, if given too much time and space on the ball, has proven his ability to control a match from the centre of the pitch.

Luton Town occupy the final relegation place in the Premier League going into Saturday’s game. What have you made of their season to this point?

Luton’s season has certainly had its ups and downs. They started very tentatively, looking to build their way into the league, before Rob Edwards realised that would only lead to one thing, relegation, so opted to set his team up in a different way to give the Premier League a real crack.

They did that and won a number of fans along the way with the excitement and goals their games produced, and when beating Brighton 4-0 back in January, then drawing 4-4 at Newcastle, it looked like Town had an excellent chance of pulling clear of danger.

However, they have since been hit with an appalling injury crisis. Without 12/13 players at one point, they have been forced to put several youngsters on their bench in recent matches and have found wins extremely hard to come by, going 10 matches without a victory until beating Bournemouth.

That breathed life into the Town’s efforts to stay up and, though they lost 5-1 to Manchester City, it did not really dent the squad's confidence, as back in August it was always a case of being in the mix to stay up with a few games to go, something that they definitely are.

The Hatters are one point from safety with five games left to play. Would you say there is belief that they can survive?

Yes. Edwards has stated since day one that he fully believes they can stay in the Premier League and he has not deviated from that at any stage of the campaign.He was confident Town could do it the minute they got promoted from the Championship and it is a theme that has been maintained by his players as well.

Obviously, they know it will be a momentous achievement if they can actually reach that goal, but the manner in which they have performed against a number of the top teams in recent weeks has increased their optimism that they now belong in the highest tier of English football.

Brentford are still not quite safe just yet either, so how big is this one for Luton?

This one is the latest in a number of massive games for the Hatters and the first of the five matches that are absolutely pivotal to deciding where they will be playing their football next season.

Brentford’s win last week, plus Crystal Palace’s triumph at Liverpool, means that in all reality, the Hatters are looking at Everton and Nottingham Forest as the teams that they can catch in the fight to stay up.With both of those clubs meeting at Goodison Park on Sunday, Luton’s players will know a win will take them out of the relegation zone and then keep them there whatever happens in that game, which could be a huge boost mentally to them and quite possibly affect the other two teams in a negative way.

A draw would keep Town in the battle, just, but Edwards will put the pressure on his squad to make sure it's three points rather than one, as he knows Luton might need three or even four triumphs to finish above the dotted line, particularly with appeals regarding points deductions potentially affecting the table even after the season has finished.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

Midfielder Ross Barkley has had a terrific season for Luton and if he can turn on the style, which he did when scoring for the Hatters at Manchester City on Saturday, then it will give Town the best chance of winning the game.

Blessed with the ability to control a match from the centre of the pitch, the former Chelsea and Everton player looked a real goal threat in Town’s last match here against Bournemouth, often breaking forward and letting fly whenever the chance to do so arose.

If he has Albert Sambi Lokonga fit enough to feature alongside him, then it will free him up even more in an attacking sense, which will be a real boost for the Hatters as they look to claim the victory.

How is Rob Edwards likely to set up his side?

With this being written before Edwards’ press conference, then it is a bit of guesswork at the moment as we are not sure how many, if any, of his 12 injured players are going to be available.

He will hopefully be able to revert to his favoured back three, with Issa Kaboré eligible to play in this one and Teden Mengi likely to return as well.

Edwards is then a huge fan of wing-backs, and two deeper-lying midfielders, with two attackers either side of a lone frontman, which has been Carlton Morris ever since Elijah Adebayo picked up his hamstring injury.

There is a slight chance Adebayo could be back, plus defender Gabe Osho as well, so he will be keeping his fingers crossed that there is finally some good news from the treatment room heading into this one.

What's your score prediction?

I’m going to go 2-1 to Luton. Hopefully they have some players back, meaning that with the Kenilworth Road factor, and the pure desire to win, it will see them through to a much-needed success.