Clark: Dubai trip was a perfect chance for Luton's players to bond with new manager Edwards

Luton midfielder Jordan Clark felt his side’s trip to Dubai for some warm weather training ahead of the season restarting this weekend was the perfect opportunity for the squad to bond with the new management team in place at Kenilworth Road.

Following Nathan Jones’ departure to Premier League side Southampton, the Hatters appointed Rob Edwards in his place, with Paul Trollope and Richie Kyle soon joining as assistants.

With the Town players being on a mid-season break due to the World Cup in Qatar when the former Forest Green and Watford boss was named as Jones’ successor, then it limited the time he had to work with his new group of players.

However, after returning to the Brache, Luton’s squad was quickly whisked away to the Middle East at the end of last month where they spent just under a week in their training camp, something Clark thought was a hugely beneficial process, as he said: “I think it was a really good idea as when it’s miserable over here, you just want to get off the training ground quicker than normal, but when you’re training over there and you’re around everyone 24/7, the manager can speak to people as long as he wants.

“We had all the injured lads over there as well so he can get a feel for them and get to know them and all the staff as well.

"So it was about getting to know everyone and just being friends with everyone and then knowing how people work, knowing what buttons to push and whether to push people, or put an arm round people.

“You learn about everyone, every single player’s different.

"When you’re on top of each other every single day, it was good and then when the weather’s 30 degrees it makes it even better, you can have a chat on the beach so it made it a little bit easier for him.

“It was good to get around the new staff with everyone and for him to get to know everybody and get some warm weather training as its been freezing cold over here.

"Everyone seems to be in a good place and are just ready for a game now and crack back on with the season.”

Luton then took on fellow Championship outfit Reading on Saturday in a behind closed doors contest at Kenilworth Road to get some minutes into the legs once more ahead of their trip to the Riverside to face Middlesbrough this weekend.

Again, Clark believes it was ideal preparation for the rigours of a second tier fixture, as he continued: “Sometimes you get those games and they’re a bit like a testimonial, but it was good trying to implement what the gaffer actually wants and try to put it into a game.

"We played against each other with a friendly game between the lads over in Dubai, but that’s not the same when you’re playing against other Championship players.

"It was good to get a run-out before the main game on Saturday.”

Although happy to have had some time off after an exhausting schedule since the campaign began back in late July, Clark having played 20 out of 21 league matches to date, starting all but one of them, he is confident the squad has come in a good place for the second part of the season.

With 25 matches still to play, there remains a real chance Luton can reach the play-offs as they had done last term, as discussing his time away, Clark added: “It’s been lovely!

"I took the missus and the little one to Tenerife for a week, everyone had a good break away, but everyone’s ready to get come back and get back to the season.

"Fingers crossed we’ve no injuries, only the injured lads who were injured before we went away, so hopefully we can get them back as quickly as possible, but everyone’s come back well, come back fit and healthy, so it's been really good.

“The Championship’s relentless when you’re week in week out and you pick up niggles but you’re just playing through it.

"It was weird, it was nice to rest the body a little bit and switch off from football, but now’s the time to switch back on again and hit the ground running with a tough away game.

“It is a lot when you’re playing Saturday, Tuesday and there’s a lot of travelling.

"It was nice, but it’s nice to be back now and ready to crack on with the games, the bread and butter in the league.

"We want to finish better than we did last season, so it’s focus back to the league and do as well as we can in the back end of the season."