But looking back on the game, Pardew said, "Overall I can't be disappointed with a team that has had just one day's worth of training together, and I can't fault their effort.
"I thought in the end Luton were slightly the better side, but we still had some massive chances to win it."
"I took the opportunity to rest some of the senior players and told the chairman and board of directors what I would be doing.
"I can't fault the players whose application was strong and in the end we were undone by a good little team in Luton."
Pardew added: "Nobody would remember it if we reached the quarter finals and finished eighth in the league."