Bare bones Luton produced a great performance to claim a penalty shootout victory against Brentford in the second round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Tuesday night – much to the delight of manager Mick Harford.

The Hatters boss was proud of the way his side battled back from 2-0 down to take the game to penalties.

Speaking after the game, he said: "It was a good game, although too open for my liking. I'm just delighted with the spirit and character of a young group of players who did well to come back.

"I think the beauty of this Trophy for us is that it's bizarre as you've got to play six players who have played most of your games and we only had seven available. It's tough at the moment."

Jake Howells was handed his first start in a Luton shirt, while there was also a full debut for lively youngster Scott Sinclair.

Harford said: "The kids have been well groomed by Gregg (Broughton] and Alan Neilson. They've been brought up the right way and they deserve the opportunity.

"Jake is a talented boy. He is a young lad, only 17 years old, and didn't look out of place this evening. He wants to learn and he will get better and improve and hopefully he is another one on the conveyor belt of talent Luton has produced over the years."

Harford revealed Luton had been practicing their penalties in training and that he was pleased to extend their unbeaten run to three, even if the competition has questionable values.

He said: "We practiced penalties yesterday for quite a long time. The five who took them were the best yesterday but it's different in that environment.

"You approach the game in the same manner as any other. It doesn't have the same importance as a league, FA Cup or League Cup match. If you don't approach it in the right way you get beaten."

On the goals, Harford said: "Chris scored the two of them, a good header and a good cross from Ed (Asafu-Adjaye]. Ed is carrying a bit of a knock so we took him off to make sure he is OK for the weekend. The two goals we gave away, in my opinion, were very sloppy."

He also had praise for keeper Conrad Logan, who made several fine stops during the game and saved two penalties in the shootout, adding: "He is a good shot-stopper. It's three games unbeaten now and it was a nice little atmosphere here tonight."