“It meant a lot to us, I think the players showed that in their performance, so all round a really, really good day," said the man who was sacked by the Hertfordshire club after just ten league games at the start of this season.

Every single one of the Hatters' starting XI gave everything, with Edwards only making a change in injury-time when Cauley Woodrow replaced the immense Carlton Morris after Allan Campbell had netted the second goal.

“I thought the players were outstanding, every single one of them, to the point where it actually made me emotional at the end," said Edwards. "The running they showed, the intent that they showed, right to the very, very end, they were outstanding, so yes, a really enjoyable day."

Even before Gabe Osho had opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, Town had been in control with the Hornets rarely threatening Ethan Horvath's goal.

“They had some moments, they had the first five minutes of the second half when we couldn’t get the pressure on the ball," said Edwards. "Then one or two things happened where we were able to get up the pitch and I thought we were in a lot of control.

"They had a big threat with their individuals they’ve got the counter attack, they’ve got good players, and even when they made the change to the back four and Ismaila comes on, we dealt with it very, very well, shuffled the midfield a couple of times just to match them up, and our wingbacks had to go and press the full backs on the ball side.

"But we were able to deal with what they threw at us very, very well and kept control really. To get the second goal today was a nice relief as we’ve deserved it a lot lately, but we didn’t get it.”

Asked whether the Hatters can still catch second-placed Sheffield United, who won at Norwich while third-placed Middlesbrough lost at home to struggling Huddersfield, Edwards replied: "You lot can talk about that, we'll focus on Millwall next.

"We are in a really good position and we are going to keep our foot down and see where it takes us. We know what gets us success and those lads know how to win games, and we've got to continue to do that.

"There are seven huge games to go and the moment we take our eye off the ball, you can get kicked in the backside so we won't let that happen."

On the atmosphere created by a sell-out crowd inside the Kenny for the first deby in front of fans here for 17 years, he went on: "It brought some emotion out towards the end, it was just nice to be able to take it in a little bit and have a look around and see everyone, with the lads, the connection that we've got.

"The fans have been phenomenal for us since we came in, and hopefully now if they didn't know what it meant to us as well, Richie and I, after earlier in the season, they know now what it means to us and how we've been welcomed in by them. But from the warm-up, the guys came in and went 'Yeah, they're at it today', and it felt brilliant throughout."

He added: "I want everyone to have a good night. Everyone's got to enjoy it. You've got to enjoy those moments, so hopefully everyone has a great night - safely. No messing about. But we've got to enjoy it.

"We are in a fantastic position, the club is on a high, everyone is going for the same thing, and to have success, that's what you need. There are no guarantees that we are going to go and do anything, and I don't want to start talking like something is going to happen. We all feel like something could and we want to be in that mix.

"We said we wanted to be in the mix with five games to go. It looks like we will be and I believe in that group of players in there, with total faith. They are unbelievable. I don't like using that word. They are believable, they've done it and shown it so many times, and they keep proving people wrong. They are better than what people think."