Hatters chief: Town transfer business not the most exciting, but it's what Luton needed

Although admitting Town's transfer window business so far might not be deemed as the ‘most exciting' by Luton fans, Hatters boss Nathan Jones believes his four signings have been essential additions to avoid another season battling relegation.

The Town manager has brought in three defenders since the window opened, Tom Lockyer from Charlton Athletic, James Bree from Aston Villa and Sheffield United full back Rhys Norrington-Davies on a season-long loan deal, with one attacker joining, Accrington midfielder Jordan Clark.

With Town conceding 82 goals during their first season in the second tier for over a decade, Jones knew they had to look at defensive options first and foremost, especially after appearing to miss out on a deal for Spurs centre half Cameron Carter-Vickers.

On his summer acquisitions, he said: "We have a structure, we have a way of recruiting, we have a way of doing stuff.

"Why, there is always a why, it’s not, 'we need a crocodile, go and get me a crocodile,' we don’t.

"We think 'we need a right back, who is the best one available? Does he fit in to what we want to do? Can we make him better, and add value?'

"All those things and we have managed to tick those boxes.

"It’s a very structured approach but to be fair to Gary (Sweet, chief executive) and the board in really difficult times, we have managed to get the business we needed.

“With all due respect, at times it’s not the most exciting business because everyone wants to see strikers and wingers, maybe the odd foreign number ten or whatever it is, but we have done the business we needed to do and we are very pleased with that.

“As I said, we are in a very good place, hopefully as a club but definitely as a squad.”

The fact that Jones could afford to bring the quartet of players in when finances have taken a severe hit due to the coronavirus pandemic, made him even more grateful to the club being in such safe hands with owners 2020 at the helm.

He continued: "The whole world has been hit by the pandemic, football is no different and we are no different to any other club in football.

“We are a fantastically run club, we don’t overexert ourselves, we don’t overspend.

"The chief exec keeps tight purse strings until we really need stuff but thankfully it is a fantastically well-run club.

“What we have done is we’ve stream-lined the squad, we have got rid of seven, eight, nine players and brought in four, managed to renew five really key players to us.

“We have not gone out and gone gung-ho, we have had a very structured approach to what we need.

"The board have backed us on that and in all fairness to them, they always do.”

Apart from the four new additions, Jones did also entice five of his out of contact players to stay, Glen Rea, Luke Berry, Kazenga LuaLua, Danny Hylton and Ellito Lee all signing new deals.

On the quintet staying put to continue their journeys at Kenilworth Road, the manager added: "They earned the opportunity to be at this level, then when they were at this opportunity at this level, they took that opportunity.

“What we have done is rewarded those and we want to go forward with them and them do really for us.

"They wanted to continue to do well and they were the ones that effectively secured our survival.

“Now when you come along a journey, you’re a part of it, you are ingrained in it and that’s what we have here.

“Individually we aren’t as good as some Championship sides, a lot of Championship sides.

"Collectively we believe we have something here and that is what we embrace, that’s what we work on, that is what everyone buys into.

"That’s at times is what’s difficult to recruit for because a lot of the time, people are selfish individuals and are more concerned about themselves than the squad.

"We have a group that is not like that.

"When we recruit, we recruit good humans as well as players and that is what we feel we have really, really done well on.”