Howells has no complaints over his treatment by Luton

The 24-year-old was told he had no future at Kenilworth Road after requesting a transfer away from the club in the summer.

With the move never materialising as Luton rejected a bid for his services, Howells had to make do with development games, as previous boss John Still admitted he wouldn’t play while he was in charge.

However, Still left the club on Thursday and caretaker manager Andy Awford was quick to bring Howells back into the fold as he started against Exeter at the weekend.

When asked if he felt he had been treated fairly, Howells said: “Completely, I completely do. It was my choice and John respected that, Gary (Sweet) and all the board respected that massively and I stood by my choice.

“Maybe it was the wrong decision, who knows? For me I felt at that time to better myself as a player was to try something new and move on.

“It didn’t work out, that’s gone, I’ve not even thought about that since then.

“There was a bid that came in they rejected, whatever happened, happened, and that’s life.

“You see it all the time, people reject bids, that’s football. I’ve never looked back at it, I just wanted to work hard and that’s my attitude towards it

“At that time I thought it was best for me personally, and maybe it was a wrong step, but it’s a learning curve and in football, you’ve got to learn.”

Despite not playing, Howells felt he was always included with the first team squad as he continued: “There were quite a few signings and I still bonded with them. I didn’t feel like an outcast at all, everyone stood by me and respected massively what I’ve done for the club.

“It’s hard for me to sit in the stands, not that I can make massive changes to the team, but I will give 100 per cent and I think everyone knows that,

“I’ve kept myself fit and got my chance now so I’ve got to grab it, and try to stay in the team.”

Asked why he was so quick to bring Howells straight back into the first team too, Awford said: “Once the club asked me to do the role, I was always going to play Jake Howells if I could.

“I spoke with Jake and spoke with the club, then I was able to pick him, he was available for selection which was great news.

“He’s like a new signing out there, he was outstanding, it was a heck of a performance from him.”