Luton Town Coach Rob Edwards is so angry with this Elijah Adebayo trend

Luton Town’s return to the Championship has been far from easy this season, with the Hatters failing to recapture their winning formula after slipping back to the second division and struggling to produce anything close to the eye-catching attacking numbers they will require.

Rob Edwards’ team has won just two of its nine Championship games, defeating Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday in September.

One of Town’s current difficulties is a dearth of goals up front, with nine strikes in as many games showing their profligacy in the last third.

Elijah Adebayo’s struggles this season have been a huge source of concern for everyone at Kenilworth Road, with the underlying statistics demonstrating that the frontman has been critical to his team’s success.

Elijah Adebayo’s bad luck in front of goal continues

Adebayo’s goal-scoring record has been inconsistent throughout his tenure at Luton Town, but his start to this season could be the best ever.

After scoring 16 goals in his first full season with the club, the striker only scored seven as the club was promoted to the Premier League, adding another ten to his tally once there.

However, the forward has yet to score in any of his nine outings this season, and anyone who has seen him play will know it is not for a lack of effort.

According to FotMob, the former Walsall man has missed nine great chances in his Championship games, which will have contributed to his team’s slow start to the season.

In terms of xG, the attacker has accumulated 3.44 without scoring, putting him at the top of the list of attackers squandering opportunities in the second division.

His recent outing against Plymouth Argyle outlined the issues in his season so far, with a number of opportunities gifted to him by the Pilgrims, although he was unable to find the back of the target, or beat Daniel Grimshaw should his shot be goal-bound.

While everything else in his game is still of high quality, the striker’s inability to convert a goal at the moment is seriously affecting his team’s results, even if performances imply they could have gained all three points.

Edwards has continued to express confidence in his striker, and there is every potential that he may turn his fortunes around, but it is only a matter of time before the Hatters manager loses patience with his number eleven.

How Elijah Adebayo compares to other Championship strikers

Although Adebayo has missed his fair share of opportunities this season, he does not lead the charts in terms of major chances lost, with Norwich City’s Josh Sargent leading the way with eleven big moments.

Adebayo is next on the list, with West Brom’s Josh Maja and Watford’s Vakoun Bayo [above] leading the way, each missing seven opportunities.

The figures show Town’s reliance on its misfiring striker, with Carlton Morris missing only one golden opportunity all season, despite being out of action since a match-winning brace against Sheffield Wednesday last month.

While Luton’s results have been less than ideal, they can take hope from the fact that if Adebayo finds his shooting boots, the results will almost certainly improve, with the chance that he will go on a hot streak after he breaks his season-long duck.