Irony not lost on Luton boss as Powell and Davies come back to haunt him for Stoke

Two of Jones' signings for the Potters stand out in City win
Hatters boss Nathan Jones watches on as Town were beaten 2-0 by Stoke on SaturdayHatters boss Nathan Jones watches on as Town were beaten 2-0 by Stoke on Saturday
Hatters boss Nathan Jones watches on as Town were beaten 2-0 by Stoke on Saturday

The sense of irony wasn’t lost on Hatters chief Nathan Jones after two of his former signings came back to haunt him during Luton’s 2-0 defeat to Stoke City on Saturday.

Midfielder Nick Powell was snapped up from Wigan Athetic by Jones during his nine month tenure at the Bet 365 Stadium, with keeper Adam Davies arriving from Barnsley.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After Steven Fletcher had put the visitors in front from Tyrese Campbell's cross, Jones also handing the attacker his league debut for the Potters back in January 2019, Davies then ensured Town couldn't find a way back into the game.

He made a terrific save from Harry Cornick’s low drive that was destined for the bottom corner, before showing good handling to collect headers from Sonny Bradley, Glen Rea and opposite number Simon Sluga of all people at the end, also extended late on by Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's daisycutter.

That made it five successive games that Michael O'Neill's side haven't been breached in this term, including Carabao Cup wins at Premier League outfits Wolves and Aston Villa as Jones said: “These defend well, they haven't conceded away from home, they are well organised side, they're a big side and the amount of attempts we had, when we did actually penetrate them their keeper was in good form.

"I actually signed him (Davies), it’s ironic, I signed him and Nick Powell and they both punished me really in terms of today, but that's the way it goes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“They have real quality, a squad full of talented players and they can punish you.

"We said that, if you switch off they can punish you and that’s what they did.”

Falling behind to Fletcher’s opener just 60 seconds into the second period was hard enough to stomach, as Jones was then left bitterly annoyed by the manner of the second goal, with Luton failing to clear their lines from a corner, allowing Powell to slam beyond Simon Sluga.

He continued: “It’s not a good goal, but we tended to lose a bit of composure (after Fletcher's strike), it seemed to rock us that goal, goals change games.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"From absolutely cruising, we didn't want the half to end really, to come out then, Tyrese Campbell is left footed, we know that, he comes inside, delivers a good ball and Fletcher is just in an area that he always is and they punished us.

"They had a bit of quality and they punished us. I'm not sure the quality punished us the second time, we need to be better, we need to win the first contact, we need to get on the second, we need to get on the third and if we do that, we stay in they game.

“They haven't conceded away from home, they’re a very well drilled side, you can see that, they’ve got good players, they’ve got quality in the right areas, which you’d expect.

"They’ve got all the ingredients, they showed the quality in the right areas and that’s why they’ve won the game."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Although the defeat was Town's first in the league at home, Jones didn't have too many complaints with the performance produced by his side, adding: "I’ve got no bitterness or anything (being beaten by his former side), it’s disappointing.

"I thought we were excellent, we really, really played well, and for long periods we were the better side.

"It’s just in the key areas where you needed that quality, they demonstrated slightly more than us, having had far less of the game to do that, so that's an area that we’re disappointed with.”

Related topics: