Jones: Collins will be kicking himself after Birmingham miss

Town striker James Collins will have been kicking himself following his second half miss against Birmingham City on Tuesday night which possibly cost his side an extra two points, according to boss Nathan Jones

With 72 minutes on the clock, Luton broke with real menace on their left hand side, George Moncur picking the ball up from deep, powering forward and then playing in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who was sprinting away in front him.

The Leicester loanee looked up and delivered the inch-perfect cross for Collins to tuck away, as he as done on so many occasions in the past, with those in the ground expecting the net to bulge and Luton to move 2-1 in front.

It didn’t happen this time though, Collins opting for the side-footed finish, with Blues keeper Neil Etheridge producing a stunning save to keep the scores level at 1-1, which is how it stayed at full-time.

When asked if Town's leading marksman was left feeling down after the game, Jones said: “He will be because he’s as diligent a finisher as I’ve seen.

“In shooting practice and in everything he does, he is always about hitting the back of the net.

“He never tries to chip the keeper, never tries to be clever with the finish, he’s just meat and two veg if you like, bosh, bang! That’s what he does.

“It will hurt him but he’ll be even more determined to do well.

“The ironic thing is, the keeper slipped, so the keeper is already on the floor.

“If the keeper had just shuffled across, it probably would have gone under his legs, but he slipped and he put it into the right area.

“Look, Collo doesn’t miss chances very often and it was a wonderful move, a great ball from Kiernan.

"He was in the right place at the right time and it is just one of those things, he will kick himself because he’s driven by goals but that happens.”

Collins had more than once opportunity to add to his tally of five goals on the night, as he put a header wide in the first period, before Etheridge made another fine stop after he danced past Blues skipper Harlee Dean inside the penalty area.

The forward then had a final attempt blocked by a last-ditch challenge with five minutes remaining, as although he drew a personal blank, Jones felt his striker had given a top display throughout the 90 minutes.

He added: “I thought James Collins put in a wonderful shift and ironically, he probably didn’t do the one thing he’s actually very, very good at, in terms of put the ball in the net from six or seven yards.

“He’s in the right place and he really did deserve a goal the other night because his performance leading the line was outstanding.

"The ironic thing is, if I was a betting man, I would be homeless now because I would have put my house on him scoring."