Captain Cuthbert well aware O's win was '˜massive' for Luton

Jack Marriott’s 26th minute goal was enough for Luton to secure the victory, moving them within three points of seventh placed AFC Wimbledon before last night’s matches.

Defeat would have seen Town fall nine points behind the likes of Orient, a fact Cuthbert was well aware of prior to kick off.

He said: “It was fantastic for the team to get a result.

“We know we’re chasing Leyton Orient and the play-off pack and it was a massive win for us, really important.

“If we had lost that we’d have gone nine points behind them and it would have been a really tough ask to catch them, but we’ve clawed it back to three with a fantastic performance from the lads.

“I’m delighted for the team. We’ve come here, to a tough place against a team in a good run of form, with very, very good individual players who I know and played against, so to keep a clean sheet is different class.”

Town’s shut out was in no small part thanks to an outstanding performance from Cuthbert, who kept the division’s top scorer Jay Simpson quiet all afternoon.

Faced with an aerial bombardment, particularly in the second period, the captain was in his element though, saying: “It was a lot of long balls and a lot of balls into our box, but we dealt with it as a team and limited them to a few chances.

“That’s important, as when a team dominates possession and they’re going to put a lot of balls into the box, it’s important you stay strong and you stand up and we’ve done that.

“We knew they would have a lot of the ball, especially at home and second half as the game wore on.

“If you’re a bit critical maybe we could have been a bit higher and pushed up and put the ball back in their area a bit more.

“But we stood up strong, rolled our sleeves up and it was a good away performance from us.”

The clean sheet was Hatters’ fifth in 10 games under Jones, who has shored up a defence that only managed six all season before he took over.

Cuthbert said: “He’s got his defensive principles and wants us to stick to it.

“He goes over them every day and before every game too. We’re sticking to them at the moment and long may it continue.

“We’ve got goalscorers too, Jack Marriott, Cameron McGeehan, both are in double figures.

“Craig Mackail-Smith can get goals and players like Paddy McCourt can create chances as well.

“So we know that if we shut up shop and are defensively sound, those players alone can win you the game and that’s what it’s like in this league.

“You play on mistakes and if you limit your mistakes then you’ll certainly finish in the top half of the table that’s for sure.”