MATTY Pearson says he is enjoying juggling the roles of first-time father and helping his Luton Town side survive in the Championship.

The Keighley-born centre-back has been a mainstay of the Hatters' season so far, playing all of their games as they bid to stay up in the second tier.

Off the pitch, the 26-year-old former Blackburn Rovers and Barnsley ace became a father for the first time with the birth of daughter Evie on December 11 and admits he is still finding his parental feet.

He has performed well for the Bedfordshire side this season, scoring against Cardiff City and Blackburn. But he did score an own goal winner in Luton's 2-1 defeat to Leeds United last month.

It is a busy spell of festive fixtures for Pearson and co with today's Boxing Day home game against Fulham followed by Luton's trip to Bristol City on Sunday, December 29 and a clash at the New Den against Millwall on New Year's Day. They then go to Premier League Bournemouth on Saturday, January 4.

The former Oakbank School student says his side have not enjoyed the best of luck with results during the first half of the campaign.

Pearson said: "We're not a million miles away.

"Most of our lads have not been at this level before. We're getting there. We just need a win.

"We've not got a massive squad, we have had to juggle players round. I think we have done alright. That's football.

"We've just got to keep going. A couple of wins can help us climb the table. We can't seem to get a run going at the moment.

"We just want to be safe at the end of the season, it's that simple. Our home form has been fantastic this season.

"It's pretty straight forward what we need to do, we need to get points. We need to get points on the board over Christmas, regardless of who it is against.

"We have lost a few games 2-1, so we have taken teams, like Leeds, right to the wire. It's fine margins. We're getting there.

"Scoring against Blackburn, where I used to play, was a highlight of the season so far for me."

Somehow, in his busy schedule, he even found time to make a whistle-stop trip from Luton to Keighley last week to introduce Evie to his family back home in West Yorkshire.

He added: "I needed to come up to show Evie to the grandparents. I was only up for a day.

"Evie is great. She has settled quite well, hopefully it carries on. I can focus on football over Christmas."

Pearson was a rock at the heart of Luton's defence last season as they won the title, playing 52 games including every league clash for the Hatters following his move from Barnsley in 2018.

He previously played for Accrington Stanley after joining them from FC Halifax Town.

The former Long Lee Juniors player has also featured in the EFL for Rochdale, having been on Blackburn Rovers's books as a youngster.

He has represented England Under-18s and the England C non-league team in 2013.