Jones could loan out Muskwe and Mendes Gomes as he admits certain players would have left regardless of cup exit

Admiral Muskwe is fouled during Tuesday night's defeat to Newport County

Luton boss Nathan Jones may well look to loan out both attackers Carlos Mendes Gomes and Admiral Muskwe after the Carabao Cup first round defeat to Newport County on Tuesday night.

The pair both started the 3-2 first round exit at the hands of the League Two opponents, Mendes Gomes scoring a magnificent strike from 35 yards, before having to go off at the break after being on the receiving end of a poor challenge.

Muskwe, who hasn’t scored in any of his 20 Championship outings since arriving from Leicester City last summer, and struggled to look like he was going to notch a first of the campaign against the Exiles.

When asked whether the pair could be going out for first team football, Jones said: “Yes, it’s just about game time for them.

"We like them, they’re good players, it’s just about getting game time.”

The result on Tuesday night hasn’t made any difference to the manager’s thoughts on who should be going out, as with a big squad, numbers need to be cut down with only 25 allowed to be registered for the Championship squad.

Jones continued: “They would have done regardless of the cup, as there’s one or two that need the exposure, need the game time for their own development and their own sanity really.

"So we’ve always known that and we were going to play them in the Newport game as we had eight, maybe nine games in a months.

"We knew it was going to be tough, and we need the squad, so we have a number of players that are potentially available just to keep their development moving forward.

“We want to make sure we get the right club for them and get the right people coming in for them.

"Once they do that then provided we can do a deal, they’ll get the game time that they need.”

On Mendes Gomes chances of being fit for the weekend’s home clash with Preston after going off in midweek, Jones added: “It was a stamp really, he got fouled, he got kicked and then he got stamped on, that’s what he came off for, the actual stamp.

"I was more baffled that it wasn’t a free kick, but he came off, he’s trained today so he seems to be fine.”