Hatters chief hoping not to be derailed by a positive coronavirus test

Luton boss Nathan Jones is hoping not to have his plans for the rest of the season derailed by any of his players testing positive for coronavirus during the run-in to the Championship campaign.

So far the Hatters have returned a clean bill of health from each round of testing, unlike some of their second tier rivals, including Saturday's opponents Preston, who have had seen two players rest positive, including ex Town loanee Jayden Stockley.

A positive test means the player in question has to self isolate and will therefore not be permitted to attend the training ground or be available for selection, which could be crucial with just nine games to go.

Jones said: “If you have a positive test then obviously it affects because you have to self isolate for a certain number of days, you have to look at GPS for anyone you may have been in the vicinity of, it’s a very complex thing.

"It can derail you, so what we have to do is be diligent and like Boris (Johnson, Prime Minister) says ‘stay alert’.

"And if you do that, then hopefully you can get through it virus-free.

"If you get through it virus-free and you avoid injuries then you have a good chance of putting your best 11 out.”

For striker James Collins, he admitted there is always an anxious moment waiting for the twice weekly results to come in as negative, saying: “We get tested every Monday and Thursday and we all wait for Simon’s (Parsell, head of medical) texts on the group chat to see if we’re all negative.

"When you see Simon coming up on the front of your phone you all know what’s going to be said, so it’s a bit of a relief.”

Despite the concerns about coming back to training and also playing during the pandemic, all of Town's players have reported back to try and save the club from relegation to League One.

Collins himself was eager to play on, as when asked if he had any worries, saying: "Not really, I think the EFL and Luton Town have made it as safe as possible for us to come back and ever since we have come back I’ve felt really safe, all the lads have.

"We know that our best chance to stay in the Championship was to come back and play in the games.

"As soon as that was made clear to us, I think everyone was happy to come back.”

Had the season not restarted, then Luton would have been relegated, due to the points per game system seeing them in the bottom three.

For Town's top scorer, getting the chance to fight for their safety on the pitch was the only fair way to decide the campaign, as he said: "In the early stages of the lockdown there was talk of that, there was talk of points per game and if that was the case then we would go down which I thought would have been unfair to be honest.

"I think you earn the right to play in the Championship, you should earn the right to play to stay in there.

"There was concerns about the games not returning but Luton kept us updated quite regularly and I think as soon as it became clear we would play again, we got our heads around it and are ready to go."

Although a number of people have found lockdown hard since the measures were enforced back in March, Collins himself hasn't minded it, adding: "I quite enjoyed it.

"There were days where you think 'I’d love to go to training today or play,' you do miss it.

"But I managed to do a lot of things at home that I don’t usually do, and spend time with my family that I don’t usually get as I am away quite a lot when the season is on.

"We got through it and it was fine."