Imagine being the Watford goalkeeper stood in front of the home fans at Kenilworth Road for 45 minutes when Luton are losing 4-0 – and you used to be a Hatter as well.

That was what Alec Chamberlain experienced on October 4, 1997, when Graham Taylor’s side battered the Hatters on their way to winning what was then Division Two.

The Hornets keeper had spent five years and made more than 150 appearances for Luton between 1988 and 1993, and then had time at Sunderland before joining Watford in 1996.

His return to Kenilworth Road that day coincided with Watford’s biggest-ever derby away win, and while the Hornets were on the way up the Hatters were struggling.

Chamberlain was stood in front of the travelling Watford fans as they raced into a 4-0 lead in a never-to-be-forgotten first half.

However, that meant he was down the other end of the ground for the second half, in front of the main body of home fans.

“The Luton fans were very generous that day in the way they responded when I ran out onto the pitch in the first place,” Chamberlain, who turned 60 in June, recalled.

“And I got a good reception when I came back out and went in goal in front of the home fans in the second half, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting given the way the first half had gone.

“The game was done by half-time, and I think that took a lot of the energy away from the Luton fans.

“They were more angry with their own team than they were with us.

“Poor old Lennie Lawrence was getting pelters in the dug-out and there was a lot of anger among the Luton supporters, but it wasn’t being directed at us.”

Being a goalkeeper means spending a lot of time very close to one group of supporters, so did Chamberlain hear many comments, either on that day or during his career?

“In my day, you had to go and get the ball from the crowd quite a bit, and that was when you would hear the comments from the crowd,” he said.

“Now they put spare balls on cones so you don’t have to do that, and so those instances have been taken away a bit.

“When the ball is down the other end of the pitch then a keeper should be patrolling around the edge of their box, so you’re too far away from the crowd and you’re also concentrating.

“Speaking personally, the more hostile a crowd was and the bigger the noise they made, the less I heard it.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, Chamberlain says dealing with the atmosphere will be essential.

“These are always tough games to call,” he said.

“I remember seeing a game at Kenilworth Road during lockdown where Watford just didn’t turn up and Luton had more passion for the game.

“On current form, Watford would look the favourites, but in a derby at a tight ground like Kenilworth Road it’ll always be hard.

“Any player who goes into the game on Saturday expecting it to be another other than very tough will have a rude awakening.

“I’m sure Tom will have the Watford players totally focussed and he’ll make sure they will be under no illusions about what they’re walking into.

“It’s going to be a very lively atmosphere and whoever deals with that better is going to have the advantage.

“I’d sit on the fence and say a draw, and I’d think that’s not a bad result for Watford away from home.”