Jones feels there is still a 'mutual respect' between himself and Stoke supporters despite being booed on return to bet365 Stadium

Luton boss Nathan Jones believes there is still a 'mutual respect' between himself and Stoke City fans despite the reception he received during last night's 2-1 victory for the Hatters in Staffordshire.

Making his first return to the bet365 Stadium with fans present since being sacked as Potters chief back in November 2019, Jones' walk to the dug-out passed by without any major incident, although there was soon the odd negative chant emanating from the home stands,

They grew louder during the second half, although that naturally coincided with the visitors taking the lead through Danny Hylton's second of the season, ex-Potters forward Cameron Jerome adding to that within five minutes of coming on.

Jones was booed by a small section of the home support as he celebrated in front of the 581 Luton fans, who had sung his name loudly throughout. following the full time whistle, but didn't take it personally.

In fact, he was eager to praise the Potters faithful for their backing of him during a tough tenure as Stoke manager, which ended after just nine months, with a mere six wins from 38 matches.

He said: "Stoke fans, they always give the manager a little bit.

“I had a good relationship with Stoke fans, they gave me time and I just didn’t give them results.

"So when you don’t give them results and when you come back, you’re going to have a bit of stick, but I think there’s a mutual respect there.

"They've seen a team tonight that were a good side and on a fraction of the budget that Stoke have, so there has to be a certain respect.

"I respect the fans as these people gave me time and gave me an opportunity, I just didn’t repay that.

"For whatever reason, I can blame, I can point fingers, but I’m not, me, I didn't get the results.

"So if I didn't get the results, of course they are going to give you a bit, but they're good people here, a good club this, a real good club, I've got a lot of good friends here.

"It’s great to win a game and yes, it's against your old club, so you don't want to come back here be embarrassed like I was last year, but we were outstanding tonight.”

Although he was happy to talk up his relationship with the City supporters, Jones gave a few subtle digs to the players he inherited when Stoke manager, as when asked about his Hatters side's push for the play-offs following eight wins from 12 in the league, the victory secured by goals from two players with a combined age of 67, he continued: "It's not just the old-timers, it’s the group we’ve got here.

"I tried to recreate that here (at Stoke), I couldn’t, I had it at Luton, I came here and couldn’t recreate that spirit, that desire to win a football game as I didn’t have the individuals who wanted to do that, but we’ve got that back.

"We’re in a good place, realistically the object is to make sure we’re a Championship football club, that was secure, probably three, four games ago, so now we can see where we go, if we want to push boundaries.

"We’ve got a group here that wants to win games and that can take you a hell of a long way.

"I found that groups that want to win games, invariably do, groups that don’t really want to win games, don’t win games and I’ve been at both ends of the spectrum.

"I’ve got a group here that want to win a football match, and we do."

Jones' post match celebrations weren't quite as excessive as his efforts at Swansea City recently, when he found himself in the stands with the supporters.

Goalscorer Hylton, who has been at the Hatters since the summer of 2016 now, felt it was deserved though, adding: “I’ll probably get hammered for it a little bit but I’m delighted for him.

"To come back to this club where he gets a bit of a hostile reception, a little bit of abuse or whatever, I’m delighted we could get the three points for him.

"It wasn't nice for him last year when we lost 3-0 and they beat us earlier in the season, so I hope he can enjoy it."