Hatters boss not fussed about being party poopers

Hatters chief Nathan Jones isn't interested in being party poopers for Northampton Town's big day at Sixfields this afternoon.
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

The Cobblers, who were crowned runaway champions earlier this month, will receive the League Two trophy after the match against Luton.

However, Jones isn’t sending out his player with specific instructions to ruin their day, preferring to concentrate on his own side’s continuing progression since he took charge.

The boss said: “We don’t change our preparation, we prepare right and I think we prepare well.

“We’ve had a good points haul since I’ve come in, I’ve been pleased with the points haul, I would have liked a few more, but we’re making steps.

“It’s going to be a tough game, Northampton will take a lot of plaudits, a lot of people will talk about them as champions, receiving the trophy and rightly so, they’ve been absolutely excellent, they really have.

“Saturday it’s up to us not to go there and spoil the party or not to go there and put the dampeners on anything, just to go there and try and win the game for Luton Town and for our fans.

“But I’m not going there for a Northampton party, I’m going there and I want to try and win the game because it’s another test for us.

“I want to finish as strong as I can, want to finish as high as we can, want to finish with momentum, all the cliches, all the words, all the adjectives, everything.

“We can say it, but we’re going there to win the game, we’re in good form, players going there are competing, we’ve got a real healthy environment and we want to achieve something.”

On opponents Northampton, who have run away with the title after Christmas with a superb sequence of form, including 10 straight victories and are currently unbeaten in 22 league games, Jones continued: “All credit to them and Chris Wilder’s done an unbelievable job, he really has, especially in the early season with the problems they had, and it seems to have galvanised them.

“I think they’ve been excellent, the most consistent side, they do things well, they do things right, they’ve got good players, got a good work ethic, good team ethic, and that’s their strengths really.

“They’ve comfortably been the champions, in theory they were promoted a while ago, but they’ve kept going, ground out results, even when people thought they would take their foot off the pedal.

“So it’s going to be a very, very difficult game, but I’d prefer a game like this where it will be a bit of a derby, just up the road, we’ll have fans going.

“It’s another test for our group which we need because I want to see where we are and who we can move forward with

“I want these tests, the Oxford’s, the Accrington’s, the Northampton’s, so we’re going to go there in good form as we’re four unbeaten as well.

“I’m looking forward to the game, it will be a massive test and we’ll give them the respect they deserve, but we’ll go there and try to win the game.”