Hatters chief Nathan Jones: It was a naive mistake to accept Luton award in Stoke training top

Hatters boss Nathan Jones has admitted it was a 'naive mistake' to accept his League One manager of the month award for the Hatters while wearing his Stoke City training gear.

The incident happened in January 2019 when Jones, who had only just left Kenilworth Road for the Potters, won the gong for his efforts at Luton the previous month.

However, the official press release from SkyBet saw Jones with the award in his Stoke tracksuit, which further infuriated Town fans, who were already bitterly disappointed by the controversial and unexpected manner of his exit in the first place.

After being announced as Town boss once more this morning, Jones apologised for any harm the photograph had caused Luton supporters, saying: "It was an absolute whirlwind of a week, I didn’t know I’d won it until the day before.

"I went and did press for Stoke, I had no other clothes on me, because literally it was a whirlwind.

"I was at the training ground, I’d taken the training session, then I had to do press, then I was told the EFL were there to take a photo.

"I either did it in a Stoke top or bare-chested, and that was a naive mistake.

"I should have not been photographed, I should have borrowed something, but the craziness of the week, it was a naive thing.

"That wasn’t meant as anything because I’m very proud of what we achieved at Luton, how we developed certain things.

"Yes, that got detracted from, but at no point did I meant to cause any harm in any way.

"So if people took it that way, I apologise and I’m sorry, but I want to look forward now and not just behind.

"Yes I want to give an explanation why, but at no point did I ever, ever mean to cause any harm to anyone or the fans who I had a wonderful relationship with."

Town chief executive Gary Sweet also hoped that Luton fans could draw a line under the unsavoury incident as well, as he added: "We can spend a lot of time unearthing and digging up specifics of that episode during that period.

"There are times in my life, I’ve had bad weeks, I’ve made mistakes, whether they lasted for 24 hours, seven days, sometimes a year, and I've been really, really thankful that people have forgiven me for that and given me another opportunity to re-patch that relationship up.

"That’s what we’re doing here.

"Sometimes you’re better not going back over old ground in a forensic manner to do that.

"All I’m asking, the board and I, we have covered all of that, we have gone through, with Nathan directly, a lot of those intricate details of the method of his departure at the time and we have now repaired that.

"I'm asking supporters to have the faith and trust in us that that’s been repaired and people learn by their mistakes.

"Nathan’s admitted he made a mistake, we want him to learn from that and we’re giving him the opportunity for a second chance.

"Now whether you call him lucky, or us lucky, will depend on what happens over nine games, so that’s where the focus has to be.

"Whatever people feel at the moment, this is the scenario, this is the environment we’re living in, where we have to compromise everything in our lives.

"What I’m saying is, the most important thing for our football club right now is the next nine games and staying in the Championship.

"If you want to vent a spleen, do it in the Championship, or even if it’s League One next season, but let's just focus on those nine games."