Hatters chief believes summer signing Onyedinma could be 'frightening' if he follows Cornick's lead and finally make the most of his undoubted talent

Luton boss Nathan Jones believes attacker Fred Onyedinma could be a 'frightening' prospect for the Hatters if he decides to follow in the footsteps of team-mate Harry Cornick and begins to realise his full potential.

The 24-year-old, who moved to Kenilworth Road in the summer for an undisclosed fee from Wycombe Wanderers, made a big impact on his debut, as he scored once and set up two to ensure Town blew Peterborough United away 3-0 on the opening day.

Onyedinma then began the 3-2 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, taken off at half time with Luton 2-0 down, missing the 1-0 defeat at Barnsley with a slight injury, then coming on for the second period of the 5-0 home loss to Birmingham.

He had 84 minutes of the stalemate with Sheffield United, seeing his second half effort disallowed for offside, but that was it as ligament damage saw him out for almost two months, only back for the 2-2 draw at Derby last Tuesday night, in which he scored after coming off the bench with half an hour gone.

Onyedinma was then restored to the starting line-up at the weekend, setting up Elijah Adebayo’s winner with some neat trickery and an inviting cross from the left, before being replaced the second period as he understandably tired.

With team-mate Cornick beginning all but one of Luton's Championship clashes this term, scoring six times, with two assists as well, Jones has tasked the former Millwall attacker with taking a leaf out of his fellow attacker's book and finally making the most out of his undoubted natural talent, saying: "As soon as Fred starts getting to the levels we want him to be then he’ll be frightening.

“If you think he’s good today, he’s nowhere near, fitness-wise he’s nowhere near, sharpness nowhere near, productivity and work-rate, nowhere near today, he’s a mile off where we need him to be.

“I’ve said to him, you look at Harry Cornick.

"Harry Cornick does 90 minutes, week in week out, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday and produces and that’s the levels we want Fred to do, as that’s why Fred’s here.

“If Fred can do that, we’ve got some specimen, some quality player, but he needs now to get to the Luton way because I feel he’s been allowed to float through certain things, get away with stuff with his pace.

“But he’s not relentless, you don’t see him time after time after time after time, he’s not Ryan Giggs and (Andrei) Kanchelskis, how they used to be and that’s the level he’s got to attain.”

The boss has full faith that the attacker will do just that during his time with Luton, as he added: “Yes, he will, that’s why he’s here, that’s why he’s here and why he’s chose to come here and not go elsewhere, because he believes we can do that to him and kick him on.

“That’s not a slur on him and having a go at him, he needs to be at a certain level and once he gets to that level he’ll be frightening.

“That’s fitness-wise, desire, that’s week in week out not breezing through because he’s so good and so quick.

“Harry’s at it every single day and that’s the example he has to follow to then produce the numbers that Harry Cornick does.”