Budget not everything for Accrington admirer Jones

Accrington Stanley have proved that budget is not everything according to Luton Town boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

League Two’s surprise package had been tipped by many to face another season of struggle this term, but have upset the odds dramatically to give themselves a real chance of exiting the division at the right end.

Despite having one, if not the smallest resources in the division to work with, Stanley have seen the likes of Billy Kee, Josh Windass, Matt Crooks and Pierio Mingoia all come to the fore, as Jones said: “They’re a fantastic side, they really are and credit to John Coleman and his staff, they’ve done a real good job.

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“They’ve got good players, sometimes I don’t think people realise that.

“They’ve managed to recruit and if your recruitment is good and your work is good, you can achieve lots of stuff and that’s what they’ve done, credit to them, they’ve done fantastically well,

Budget just guarantees you money, it doesn’t guarantee you anything.

“If you spend, if you recruit with that budget very, very well and you do good work then it only increases your opportunity of being successful.

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“But it’s no guarantees and just as a lesser budget isn’t a guarantee you’re not going to do well.

“It’s about the work you do and the recruitment you have and the environment you have. If you’ve got those right then anything is possible.”

Jones does believe that Stanley have relished the opportunity of proving people wrong this season too, adding: “I’ve watched them many times, the way they play, they have an aura about them that and I think they relish the fact of being a relatively small club, but have massively over achieved.

“They’ve stayed the pace, they have a way of playing that’s very, very admirable and one we need to be wary of.

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“I’m an admirer of their work and how they play and their structure, and I think they’ve done fantastically well. It will be a massively difficult game at the weekend, although hopefully it will be a football game.”

Jones is hoping his side can bounce back from their woeful showing at Kenilworth Road last week, and believe they have given themselves every chance after a good week in training.

He added: “We’ve had a real positive week which I envisaged we would have as they’re a good group.

“We put in a performance that I wasn’t really happy with and I couldn’t really defend and I think we all saw what type of performance it was.

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“It was a little bit lacklustre, which we haven’t had since I’ve really been here. Even the defeat at Wimbledon wasn’t a really lacklustre one, it was more of a naive one, but that was the first one where we’ve been really energyless and got what we deserved.

“But we’ve had a real excellent week, they’re together, they’re honest, they want to work, we’ve debriefed, had a word about it, saw things that we didn’t do.

“I was quick enough to praise them because they’ve been very, very good for me, so hopefully we won’t see that type of performance again.”