Marriott tipped to bounce back for Luton

The 22-year-old forward was tipped by many to be one of Hatters’ star men this term, after scoring eight times in his final 15 games last season to end as Luton’s leading marksman.

Marriott then enjoyed a prolific pre-season campaign and was on target in the opening day win at Plymouth, but a meagre return of just two goals since, saw summer signing Isaac Vassell given his opportunity against the Shrimps at the weekend.

However, leading scorer Danny Hylton said: “Of course (he’ll come good), he’s a great player, he’s a good striker, he’s a fox in the box, he’s so nippy and he’ll score goals.

“The manager has given him a little rest today and a little bit of time on the bench might be good for him to come off the bench and have an impact that way.

“We’ve got some great forwards at the club; (Craig) Mackail-Smith, Josh McQuoid, Zane Banton, there’s competition there and whoever the gaffer picks they have to go and try to do the business.”

On just why he opted to take Marriott out of the firing line, boss Nathan Jones said: “We have five strikers and with Jordan Cook its six that are vying every week.

“Jack, we just felt we’d take him out of the starting line-up and maybe bring him on as an impact (sub).

“Last year, he came on and scored a lot of goals from the bench. He’s played a lot of games and this is probably his most industrious start to a season in terms of the volume of games, but we have that competition.

“There’s no point having them if you don’t use them. We showed today that we can use the squad.”

When asked how he felt the pairing of Vassell and Hylton did at the Globe Arena, Jones added: “When Jack and Danny play up there together Danny’s the focal point, the sole focal point, and then Jack is the one that gets off the back of people.

“Now, with both of them (Vassell and Hylton) up there we’ve got two focal points.

“They both can work together. It took a little bit of the onus off Danny and I thought he (Vassell) was excellent.”