Jones calls for patience from Town's summer signings after sticking with his tried and tested

Luton boss Nathan Jones has highlighted the need for patience among his squad after sticking with his tried and tested during the early stages of the season.

The Town chief added five players permanently ahead of the transfer window closing, Tom Lockyer, Jordan Clark, James Bree and Joe Morrell, with Gabriel Osho signing as a free agent recently.

Between them they have made just eight starts in the Championship to date, although admittedly Bree has been out with a knee injury for large parts.

On Tuesday night against Birmingham City, Jones opted to drop Glen Rea back into the centre of defence from his holding midfield role, despite Lockyer, a full Wales international being available.

It's not the first time Town have used Rea alongside Sonny Bradley and when asked for his reasoning in not putting his summer addition from Charlton Athletic in, the Town chief said: “Glen’s been outstanding for four games.

"Tom is gathering momentum here, but Glen is someone I know and someone I trust and someone who has done fantastically well for me and this football club.

"So when I need something done, I tend to go to someone I really know.

"Now Tom will gain that respect and that trust, I know he will, but at the minute, it's tough on him.

"It’s tough on people like Joe Morrell who are internationals and not getting the game time, but we haven’t just signed them for the next month or two, we've signed them on long term contracts and they're going to impact.

"But I know what I’m going to get from Sonny, from Matty Person, from Glen Rea, from Martin Cranie, because I've spent more time with them, so that’s what it was.

"Glen was outstanding the other day, so was Matty, Matty scored, Glen can play in either position and we’re going to need him to as we’ve got some real good tests coming up.”

All five of Jones' additions will have arrived at Kenilworth Road looking to make an impact on the first team, so Jones knows there will be an element of frustration with being restricted to a role on the substitutes bench recently

However, with Town making an impressive start to the season, he believes his team selections have been justified, adding: "The thing about it is competition.

"If they can come and say 'I am better than him, he is not doing this, he is not doing that,' but everyone is at a good level at the minute.

"When we’ve called upon them we have and Joe we thought was outstanding for us at Sheffield Wednesday, the game passed him by a little bit at Rotherham so we made a change.

"Ryan Tunnicliffe can be disappointed because he had a real impact as well.

"We’re at a good level, we can only pick 11 and we have 22 real good outfield players who are at a good level and as a group, we’re getting better.

"Everyone’s levels have gone up, we want to push the boundaries, we don’t want to be anywhere near where we were last year, contrary to what others think.

"It’s just about being patient and buying into the collective, rather than the individual.”