Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit reveals surprise at alarming Elijah Adebayo trend at Luton Town | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, David Prutton has been speaking on Adebayo's goalscoring woes this season amid a worrying Championship stat.

Luton Town striker Elijah Adebayo hasn't been his usual prolific self in front of goal so far this season.

The 27-year-old centre-forward has bagged just five goals in 37 Championship games so far this season, with no further goals in any cup competitions.

As such, the former Fulham academy graduate is on track for his first season without registering a double-figure goal return in all competitions for the Hatters in three years.

Adebayo also leads the Championship in big chances missed, with Norwich City's Borja Sainz and Coventry City's Ellis Simms' 18 being the closest second tier players to Adebayo's 27 after 38 matches played - per FotMob.

"Hasn't stepped up to the mark" - David Prutton issues Luton Town, Elijah Adebayo verdict

Speaking exclusively with Football League World, we asked Sky Sports pundit and former player, David Prutton: 'Elijah Adebayo has comfortably missed the most big chances in the Championship this season. Are you surprised at how ineffective he's been this campaign?'

Prutton said: "Yes, I think it's safe to say that across the board, it hasn't gone according to plan for a team that dropped out of the Premier League.

"Again, a player (Adebayo) that set his own benchmark who hit 10 goals in the Premier League last season, in a team that was unlikely from the outset to get there the season before, but then defied the odds to get there and make a pretty decent fist of it given their size and scale compared to other football clubs in that division.

"Dropping back into the Championship, one of many players that hasn't stepped up to the mark, but one of the many players that really played out of his skin to get them there in the first place.

"So, I am surprised. Once again, when you look at a striker, you look at the service. But, with regards to it being big chances means that it's landed on his shoulders.

"Having seen the player over several seasons, he's no stranger to taking responsibility for that. It's just a case of, hopefully for Luton Town fans, getting a bit of a knack between now and the end of the season to get them somewhere near safety.

"They've got to finish above that dotted line."

Luton Town are in desperate need of Adebayo to find his shooting boots for the sake of their Championship survival bid

With just eight games remaining this season, Luton Town are fighting for their Championship lives.

That's not a situation that many would've hung their hat on the Hatters being embroiled in at this stage of the campaign, with the consensus typically being with a side dropping down from the Premier League that they will be fighting for promotion back to the top flight heading into the final weeks of term.

Alas, a fight for survival is where they find themselves, but with just four points separating them and 21st-placed Cardiff City, it's a battle that Matt Bloomfield's side can still very much emerge victorious from.

However, if they are to do so, then they will need the likes of Adebayo to find a rich vein of form. The tall and powerful striker hasn't found the net since bagging a 90th-minute winner in a 2-1 win over Stoke City on 10 December last year.

At the time, that was his third straight goal in as many Championship matches, and so, if he can hit a purple patch such as that between now and the end of the season, it may just make all the difference when it comes to which division the Hatters will be plying their trade in for 2025/26.