Hatters boss happy that his second half changes were able to solve Boreham Wood 'problem' with pre-season victory

Luton boss Nathan Jones hailed the impact of his changes as Town eventually solved the 'problem' caused by National League side Boreham Wood in their latest pre-season friendly on Saturday.

With an hour gone at a sweltering Meadow Park and the Hatters trailing 1-0 to their hosts, Jones opted to swap nine outfield players in a pre-planned move, leaving just Leicester trialist Khanya Leshabela, who had only just replaced Glen Rea, on, as goalkeeper James Shea retained his position between the posts.

The new-look team immediately got to grips with their task, Sam Beckwith picking out Jordan Clark at the back post to make it 1-1 after 73 minutes.

Carlos Mendes Gomes then added a glorious second from distance, before Clark was on target once more, volleying home Joe Morrell’s cross to complete the scoring and add a late gloss to the scoreline.

Speaking afterwards, Jones said: “It’s a tough place to come, it was a very competitive game

“It’s a very hot day, sticky, not much flow in the game but it was a good test.

“We came up against a direct test, some big ones and we haven’t had that yet in pre-season.

“They had one chance in the first half and took it.

“We weren’t aggressive enough in the first half, weren’t on the front foot and we allowed it to be a pre-season game - I didn’t want that.

“Then when we made the changes, it gave us a real impetus, a lot of people who really took the game by the scruff of the neck and it was a really good run out.

“Credit to Boreham Wood, it was a real even contest for lots of it.

"I think probably fitness told late on where we came into it, when we had a bit more sharpness with the quality we were putting on and that’s how we’ve won the game, so another win and it’s good.”

Although Town had struggled during that opening hour, Jones was pleased his players had gone through a situation like that after sailing to wins over Hitchin, Rochdale and Bedford Town so far, scoring 16 goals without reply.

He added: “It’s so warm and very, very difficult to get any flow into the game.

“We had to try and push the tempo at times and that’s good, it’s a good run-out and I’m pleased that we had that.

“It’s a different test, coming up against five at the back, we’re having real good tests in pre-season and it’s important that everyone’s understanding what they’ve got to do.

“We had to change one or two things, we did that and we got a win, which is important to keep winning.

“I thought all the ones that came on did really well, and it was more difficult first half to get to grips with everything, but it’s a run-out, and a learning curve as well.

“We don’t want everything plain sailing and smooth because if everything's plain sailing then when we do come up against a problem we’re not going to know how to solve it.

"Today Boreham Wood gave us a problem and we managed to solve it.”