Hatters boss understands the pressure mounting on Baggies boss Bruce following his similar experience at Stoke

Luton boss Nathan Jones knows full well the kind of situation that West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce is currently under, but doesn’t think the Baggies poor results have matched their performance this season.

The Hatters head to the Hawthorns this afternoon looking to further ramp up the pressure on one of the most experienced managers in the game in Bruce, who has been in the dug-out for over 1,000 matches.

This term has been nothing short of a nightmare for the former Newcastle, Sunderland and Aston Villa chief though, with his Albion side having one just once, sitting third bottom in the table.

Without a victory in their last seven matches and losing both the previous two home games 3-2, a 1-0 reverse at Preston on Wednesday night had looked to signal the end of his eight month reign in the West Midlands.

However, Bruce escaped the sack after lengthy discussions with chief executive Ron Gourlay on Thursday to lead his side against Town this afternoon, and Jones, who was in a similar position when at his previous club Stoke City, said: “I have been there myself.

"Performance wise, your numbers have been good, but results haven’t been and sometimes that can happen.

"I don’t want to comment on Steve, I really like Steve, he is a good guy.

"He’s at a big club, he’s very experienced so whatever happens at that club, we can’t second guess anything.

"I’m sure good owners will look at performances and see that they’re a good side.

“Results-wise they’re struggling, performance-wise they’re doing very well.

"They’re in a false position for the squad they’ve got and the level they have been playing at.

"They’re a good side and very unfortunate, they controlled the game last night (Wednesday) and with the greatest of respect were the better team on Saturday when they lost (to Swansea).

“We’re in a results business so I understand the pressure but performance wise they are really dangerous.”

With 12 games gone, the tight nature of the Championship table means that despite their predicament, Albion are only eight points off the top six, while a win for Luton could jump them up from nine to fifth.

Jones added: “There are some big sides up there but everyone is in with a chance.

"Some are winning, some teams are losing, some teams are in bad form, I think it’s eight or nine managers that have gone or changed, it is really difficult.

"The last two games we haven’t really known what we’re going to come up against because I watched Huddersfield, I went to watch them on Saturday and they played three formations.

"Hull sacked their manager on the day of the game, it is the maddest league in the world in terms of intensity and what can happen.

"Tactically it’s good, aggressively it is one of the best, then you get a lot of people with trigger fingers and that is how you end up with the merry-go-round that you do.

"It is a crazy league and it has shown that.”