Hatters boss surprised to see finale of Millwall clash cause so much 'furore'

Luton boss Nathan Jones has been surprised to see the final stages of his side’s 1-1 draw against Millwall come under so much scrutiny this week.

The Hatters were leading 1-0 with six minutes left and having already brought on Glen Rea and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzuy earlier in the second period, then made three more changes.

That saw James Collins, Harry Cornick and Luke Berry enter the fray, but with the Lions having brought on Matt Smith and somehow awarded a hefty six minutes of injury time to try and find an equaliser, they did just that inside the final 60 seconds to snatch an unlikely point.

Jones said: “I’ve never known a furore over a final eight to 10 minutes as I have in this game.

“It's been so scrutinised this last couple of days, the final bit, but we made positive changes.

"I didn’t bring another defender on, we changed Joe Morrell round on about 70 minutes because he hasn’t played many minutes, they were going direct, so they were going to bypass that which was the natural one for Glen Rea.

"Then we made positive changes, put on two strikers to stretch the play, get us up, to provide a threat, and we were seeing the game out on problems.

"(Simon) Sluga did not have a save to make, we saw the game out, six minutes came from absolutely nowhere as there’s no way there should have been six minutes, absolutely no way.

"We could go for it, and maybe we can go for it, but if you really go for it and you go gung-ho and you concede, people think 'how naive are you to go for it?'

"So we were seeing the game out like every other team in world football, maybe apart from Man City and Barcelona does, and it’s a shame we didn’t.

“It was a tight game, we were in control of the game, creating the better chances, we had more possession.

"It’s just you know when you’ve got a one goal lead, when you come up against Millwall, Milllwall are a tough side to play against.

"They’ve got energy, they’ve got quality and then they bring on probably the best target man, or one of the best three target men (Matt Smith) in the league and you know they’re not going to waste a hell of a lot of time playing through the midfield.

"When they get an opportunity, they’re going to go into Smith, they're going to run off him and it’s very difficult to mark him.

"So what you have to do is try and stop the supply line to him, which is why we brought on two strikers and more energy in midfield to try and do that.

"(Ryan) Tunnicliffe and Joe Morrell had not played a lot of football, so to retain those levels of energy, to get the press, to get on second balls, to keep doing that, was difficult and especially when they were being direct and Millwall are very good at going direct.

"If that’s the last time that Smith affects the game in the last 10 minutes then I’ll retire, so that's what happens.

"There was two minutes of extra time that shouldn't have been played, regardless of what anyone says, there wasn’t time-wasting, it was a team seeing out the game as I've watched the game back and I’m very honest in what I did.

"I was a bit flabbergasted by some of the comments, so when I looked at it back I don't see that.

"I don't see what we could have done a hell of a lot different apart from show a little bit more quality, taken the second goal, as it was a very good performance for us.

“If the supporters are disappointed then times that by a million and that's my level, that’s how I felt."

When asked if the manner in which his side saw two points ripped from their grasp made it even harder to get over in the days after the event, Jones continued: "We’re over it, it was a good performance.

"We’ve spoken to the players and we’re really positive, it’s a bit of a punch on the nose, but we’re over it.

“We’ve got to learn from those things but, performance-wise, we were excellent, really brave, really wanted to play and created enough to have got ahead, but didn’t show the necessary quality to get the second goal, which would’ve probably killed the game.

"There was a real level of control in the game that was so pleasing and let’s not forget, Millwall are a good side.

"They’re a difficult side to play against, and they’ll get in your face, as they haven’t lost many games.

“We showed real good quality and that’s a credit to Gary Rowett for getting something out of the game.

"That shows he’s a good manager but, for me, apart from about 25 seconds, I thought it was an outstanding performance against a tough side."