Hatters will send a strong squad to Eagles

Luton Town fans will get a first chance to see the club's new signings in action when they take to the field against Bedford Town on Saturday.
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

The Hatters picked a fledgling 11 to play Hitchin last night, but boss Nathan Jones confirmed the likes of Alan McCormack, James Collins, Elliot Lee and Andrew Shinnie will all feature at the Eyrie.

He said: “We’ll take a full squad on the weekend, it’s (Hitchin) just come too quickly for the first team lads, so we’ll be ready to go at the weekend.”

Danny Hylton is the only player to be missing after undergoing an operation, as defender Johnny Mullins, who missed the latter stages of last term, is fit again now too.

Jones, who saw his side win 9-0 in the corresponding fixture last term, said: “He’s (Mullins) come back, recuperated well and is training fully.

“It might take a little bit of time to get up to speed in terms of rhythm and so on, but we expect that with a lot of them.

“Johnny didn’t play towards the end of the season, so he might be slightly behind, a few days behind, but that’s it.”

After playing against their Southern League Division One Central opponents, Town then fly out to Slovenia for a week-long camp.

Aside from the fitness training, they will also play another friendly, as Jones continued: “We’ll step up our training, we’ve done a lot of physical work this week and we’ve done a little introduction to tactical work.

“There’ll be more intense physical work next week and more tactical work.

“We come off the back of the game against Bedford, we’ll then have another test away in Slovenia, so it’s just another progression.

“We’ve got a game against a Slovenia side out there, which is the culmination of a week’s work and will give the lads another run out, 45 minutes from the weekend and then in Slovenia they’ll get another 45 ready to come back and step it up.

“We’ll be two and a half weeks into pre-season then with four to go, so it’s all building towards the first game of the season.

“Last year we were very fortunate, we had a fantastic pre-season in terms of no injuries and we’re looking for that again.”