Hatters boss felt he should have changed things earlier during Forest draw

Luton manager Nathan Jones admitted he should have changed things earlier during his side’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Kenilworth Road last night.

With the visitors down to 10 men in the closing stages of the first period, Nicholas Ioannou dismissed for a foul on Martin Cranie and Luton leading through Glen Rea’s opener, Town could never drive home their advantage after the break, Rea turning Cyrus Christie’s cross into his own net under pressure from Ryan Yates midway through.

Despite a display he labelled as 'lacklustre' and 'passive' afterwards, Jones didn’t make any substitutions until 13 minutes go to, Jordan Clark and Kazenga LuaLua on for Elliot Lee and Tom Lockyer, with George Moncur introduced even later.

Jones felt he ought to have made the switches with more time remaining, saying: “I should have changed things a little bit earlier, but by the time we did change there was an evenness to the game where you felt if we’re open, they could capitalise.

“Psychologically we’ve got to believe we’re a good side and we were better against 11, we were more progressive in our passing.

“They sat in for a little bit, were organised, they didn't come after us like they did first half, where they came after us and we were able to play round them.

"Second half they sat in, denied us masses of space, so then we had to create our own space.

"Sometimes you have to go into front, have to play on the front foot, but we didn’t and that’s how we ended up drawing the game.”

Facing a Forest side with a man down for the entire second 45 minutes came with its own challenges for the Hatters according to Jones, who was also frustrated his players hadn't heeded the half-time warnings.

He continued: “Maybe and mentally it is (difficult) when you’re going against 10 men, but we’re disappointed as we asked them for two things.

“We said 'don’t let them score from a cross' and 'can we play with a tempo and get on the front foot?'

“We didn’t do that second half, we allowed them to score from a cross, those were the categorical two things we said at half time, it was crazy.

"That’s the thing that’s disappointing as we were passive, we allowed them to press, we played a lot of sideways passes between the three (defenders)."

Play in the first period had been very even, with Town employing a controlled possession game, probing for an opening against their more established opponents.

On their tactics, Jones continued: “If we let Forest dominate the game and get into our final third and we’re open then they will punish you.

"They’ve spent a hell of a lot of money, got a hell of a lot of players, (Anthony) Knockaert, (Joe) Lolley, (Lyle) Taylor, that are top players in this division, with (Luke) Freeman on the bench, (Sammy) Ameobi, but we nullified that by being very good in possession.

"We controlled the game quite a lot, we were very structured, they had to come after us, and then there weren’t a load of opportunities.

"We scored from a set-play and it was well worked.

"We should have had another pen by the way, for handball, which should have made it slightly more easier, as a second goal would have killed the game really, as when it’s only 1-0, they always have an opportunity.

"Then to go down to 10 men, you’d think, 'okay it will be slightly easier now,' but it wasn’t as were just passive.

"Credit to them, as second half, I thought they were very good.

"They ran and when we then turn the ball over and they were able to come into our half, they have players that can hurt you and in the end anyone could have won it."

Despite the result, Jones was happy to take a positive result away from their evening's work, meaning Luton sit in ninth position after eight games, one point off the play-offs and more importantly eight points clear from the relegation zone at such an early stage.

He added: "It’s a positive point, because before the game, if you said 'well you can have a positive point, you can have as much of the game as you did,' then you would say a good performance from Luton Town.

"But in the context of the game, taking the lead, going down to 10 men, you think, 'right go on and win the game.'

"We didn't, but there’s lots of positive to take from it, and there’s no god given right in the Championship to win a game.

"Nottingham Forest have top players, a big budget, I don’t want to harp on about a budget as you have to spend it wisely, but they’ve got fantastic players who can hurt you.

"So today we were competing with a top side and that’s what we want to do in this division.

“We have a good squad now, we really do, as these are, regardless of their position, they're a top side with a massive budget, with a load of history, are very fancied.

"Barring from an absolute implosion last year, they would have got in the play-offs, so they’re a very good side at this level and we knew that.

"But we’re competing with them, so in the grand scale of things, is a point against Nottingham Forest the worst result in the world?

"Not necessarily, but in terms of the circumstances, we’re very disappointed."