Left-back Jake Howells has revealed he turned down opportunities to leave Luton before being blooded by Mick Harford in Hatters' 1-0 home defeat to Huddersfield last Saturday.

The first year academy player, who only turned 17 last month, was rewarded for his loyalty to the Town after refusing the overtures of Portsmouth and Fulham earlier this season.

He said: "I had offers from other teams at the start of the year. But it (Luton) is closest to my home and I don't want to move. When Chris Cummins was here he was always saying I would get a chance and I was doing well and to keep it up."

Howells was involved with the first team squad for the last few weeks and, although he believes the insight helped him to prepare for his big day, it still came as quite a shock.

He said "It's hard getting used to it.

"The gaffer was going on a lot in training about how he was going to bring me on at some point in the season.

"I got told after 20 minutes to get my shinpads on because I was coming on. I just had to keep warming up and hoping to get my chance.

"Everything was new to me – the speed of the play. It's not something you would get used to overnight."

For the full story see the News/Gazette.