Jones hopes Osho and Kioso make the step up after loan spells away from Luton

Hatters boss Nathan Jones hopes that duo Peter Kioso and Gabe Osho, who spent the majority of last season out on loan, can make the step up to Town's first team should the opportunity arise this term.

Kioso, who moved to Kenilworth Road from Hartlepool in January 2020, made his first start for the Hatters in the Carabao Cup against Manchester United, before heading out on for a successful stint with League Two Bolton Wanderers.

He was then recalled in January and went to Northampton, where he spent the second half of the campaign and was lauded by both sets of supporters at the Cobblers and Trotters for his impact on the pitch.

It was similar for Osho, who signed a new contract yesterday, the former Reading man spending a month at Torquay United in the National League and then going to League Two Rochdale, playing 22 times.

Both have come back and impressed in Town’s friendly matches, the pair getting a plenty of minutes under their belts, as with Jones having let two more experienced players leave during the summer, he expects them to get a chance to prove themselves in the second tier.

The Luton chief said: “They have done really well in pre-season, both athletic, physical players that want to defend, that want to do the right thing.

“So sooner or later, they will get opportunities to play in our first-team because that is why we let them go out.

“They probably weren’t ready a year ago and we had slightly more established players in those positions, like Matty Pearson and Martin Cranie.

"But we have made the decision to let those go and hoping that others step up because we are not just looking to be good for the next three to four months, we are looking to be good for the next five or six years.

“All these decisions have to be made, not tentatively but boldly, also with the present in mind as well.”