Hatters chief wants Town to relish playing against England legend Wayne Rooney once more

Jones demands his players look forward to the test
Wayne Rooney in action against Luton last seasonWayne Rooney in action against Luton last season
Wayne Rooney in action against Luton last season

Town boss Nathan Jones wants this side to relish going up against Manchester United and England record goalscorer Wayne Rooney this afternoon.

It won’t be the first experience for many of Luton's team though, Rooney on target at Kenilworth Road last term with his first strike for the Rams, ultimately unable to prevent Hatters' running out 3-2 winners late on.

He is likely to be included once more today by manager Philip Cocu, as Jones said: “It is a good thing for them to play against Wayne Rooney but they have to relish that because Wayne has been a legend for the game.

"England, Man United, top scorer, a wonderful career and it will be great to test ourselves against that.”

Defender James Bree was of a similar opinion too, saying: "We played against him last season, he’s a quality player, someone you just look at and think 'wow' when you're on the pitch.

"But obviously for 90 minutes, he can't be your mate you've just to play the game as it is."

The Rams added further attacking options to their squad this week, with Polish international winger Kamil Jozwiak joining for an undisclosed fee from Lech Poznan.

Jones admitted he didn’t know a great deal about County's latest acquisition but would be finding out as much as he could ahead of kick-off.

He continued: "Not at this point but by the time we play them, I’ll know as much as I possibly can.

"We have to concentrate on us and yes, they have some threats but we’re in decent form at the minute so we’ve got to make sure we are the best versions of ourselves and if we are that, that’s all I can ask."

One player Jones did know plenty about was striker Jack Marriott who was at the club when Jones arrived in January 2016, eventually sold to Peterborough United the following summer.

He moved to Pride Park in July 2018 as on their reunion, Jones said: "It will be nice if he doesn’t score, it won’t be great if he scores but it’s always nice to see Jack.

"Jack did very well for us here and we evolved, carried on evolving and Jack was one that moved on.

"Itwas a good deal for the club, it enabled us to bring in the likes of Elliot Lee and James Collins so it was a good deal for us.

"We wish Jack all the best, apart from two games this season."

Jones is also looking forward to pitting himself against the wits of County boss Cocu who had a glittering playing career at the likes of Barcelona and PSV, while also winning over 100 caps for Holland too.

The Derby chief also added former Brighton player Liam Rosenior to his coaching staff in the summer too, who Jones was with when first team coach at the Seagulls, as the Town manager said: "I didn’t play against him (Cocu), our paths didn’t cross that way, but I managed against him last year.

"One of his first games was against us at Stoke, we drew 2-2, a real good game.

"We missed good chances, conceded in the first minutes which was symptomatic of us then, but it was a wonderful football game and I expect that again.

"I know Liam very well, Liam was a player there (at Brighton), a very diligent player, an important member of the squad.

"He played a lot of games, had a fantastic career and knew he always wanted to take that next step.

"He’s embarking on an another set of pathways now in media and with coaching and I wish him all the best. "

Although Derby haven't made the best of starts to the season, losing their Championship opener at home to Reading and then knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Preston in midweek, Jones isn't reading too much into their early run of results.

He added: "It’s the Championship and we will say this probably 50 times this year – it’s the Championship.

"It’s one game in, they’ve won a cup game and lost a league game.

"They then took the lead, had a player sent-off so it’s very difficult to gauge.

"It’s so early and we will see at 5pm on Saturday but Derby have some wonderful players, some real Championship experience, a lot of youth and quality so it's an extremely difficult game.

"We know that and it’s the Championship so as soon as you mention a Championship game, you know it’s going to be tough.

"It is going to be unpredictable, there is going to be twists and turns and what we have to do is come out on top of those margins."