Jones admits injury to Cuthbert may have helped Hatters

Hatters boss Nathan Jones admitted captain Scott Cuthbert's injury may well have proved the turning point for his side during their 3-1 win over Doncaster Rovers at the weekend.
Town boss Nathan JonesTown boss Nathan Jones
Town boss Nathan Jones

The Town skipper went down with what looked like a serious neck problem after 25 minutes, with Hatters trailing 1-0 and lucky to only be one down as they were clearly second best in the opening stages.

However, with Cuthbert eventually stretchered off after eight minutes of treatment, Luton recovered in style, as Cameron McGeehan and Jack Marriott scored to put them in front by the break, with McGeehan’s penalty sealing victory with 10 minutes to go.

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Jones admitted the break in play favoured his team, saying: “To be honest with you it might have killed their flow, might given us a bit of time to regroup and to settle down, so it might have helped us in hindsight.

“I don’t actually know, but it might have, and as it was after that we were a lot better.”

Defender James Justin agreed with his manager too, saying: “Yes, it definitely did stop their flow, gave us a chance to recover, take a deep breath and get on with the game.

“It was a long delay after the goal and we just had to pick ourselves up from the ground and go at it again, that’s the way we are.

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“We’re all tight knit group, so we were all geeing each other up, lets go, lets go, so we get back in the game and win it.

Rovers boss Darren Ferguson felt his side didn’t react well to the prolonged stoppage, as he said: “I just think the break didn’t help us, it helped them more than us, but it comes down to making the right decisions and for the three goals we made poor decisions.

“That’s not taking anything away from Luton though, congratulations to Luton, sure there’ll be there or thereabouts.”

On the way his side bounced back from the opening 25 minutes, Jones said: “They started very, very well, but these are a good side I knew they were a good side.

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“They play the same shape as us, was a little bit of man for man thing, and it was a big game, big result and we showed over the 110 minutes, that we were up for it.

“We started slowly, they came out of the blocks, they really did show what a good side they are, and they’ve been flying, absolutely flying.

“They’ve been beating everyone, they’ve won five of the last six, by fours and fives, so they’ve been in very, very good form, have come down, got some big players in their side.

“But we showed a lot of character, to regroup after the setbacks of the goal, of losing our captain, and I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory.

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“We finished the second half of the first half and we were the better side.

“Then in the second half, I thought we were actually the better side, and looked like we were going to get the goal, we did get the goal and it was only after then they went direct and that’s when they had a little bit of pressure, but thought we thoroughly, thoroughly deserved the victory.”