Hylton believes he is on a level playing field once more after coronavirus lockdown

Striker Danny Hylton believes that his lack of match action this season might not count against him quite as much as it could have going into the final nine matches of the Championship season, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The experienced forward had missed the majority of the campaign with a troublesome knee injury that needed operating on, but returned to training and made his second tier debut in the 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in February.

However, despite being on the bench for the next five matches, he only played two further minutes under former boss Graeme Jones, a late cameo in the 2-1 victory against Brentford.

The enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic means that it isn't just Hylton, who scored for Town in their 4-2 practice match win over the Bees on Tuesday, who has been out of action for the past three months, with all Championship squads on lockdown measures enforced by the government.

With no matches since early March, then there will be plenty of ring rust on display when Luton meet Preston North End on Saturday, the first of their run of nine games in just over a month, meaning Hylton shouldn't be at such a disadvantage.

The former Oxford attacker said: "I’m back fully fit.

"Before the coronavirus came about and we were on lockdown, I was in full training for about two or three months.

"I got to a good level and then unfortunately bigger things happened than football.

"We found ourselves stopping, but I’m back fully fit, raring to go and looking forward to it.

"Before I was playing catch-up but now, we’ve had 10 weeks off and, it’s a bit of a level playing field.

"I felt I was in a good place before lockdown. I had two or three months continuous training and in-house games, so I thought I was in a good place anyway.

"But we’re all back in, we’re all at the same level.

"I feel good, I feel ready and I’ll try to do everything I can to get on the pitch and get in the team and help the team in any way I can."

One thing that has changed for Luton since the season was postponed is the manager, with Nathan Jones replacing Graeme Jones at the helm.

Hylton was a huge favourite of the Welshman during his first spell in charge and believe it could help Town in their bid to stay up.

He added: “We’ve had a lift with the new manager who we’re familiar with and we’re all delighted he’s back.

"So these little lifts and percentages here and there will hopefully give us the lift to go and do the job, finish the season strongly, achieve what we want to achieve, which is obviously staying up."