Jones hopes to recreate more James Justins and Jack Staceys during second spell at Luton

Hatters boss Nathan Jones is confident that he can recreate the success stories of flying full backs James Justin and Jack Stacey during his second spell at Kenilworth Road.

Under the Luton chief, the defenders became stand-out performers in a Town side that won promotion to the League One and then once Jones had moved on, reached the Championship after claiming the title last term.

Neither actually got to represent Luton in the second tier though, Justin snapped up by Leicester City for a club record transfer fee received by Town in the summer.

He was swiftly followed by Stacey, who also headed to the top flight, joining Bournemouth, making 13 appearances for the Cherries this term.

Jones, who returned to the club himself for a second spell late last month, now wants to deliver further stars, as he said: “Remember that until they came into our environment, until they were regulars in our environment, our system, our structure, our work ethic and our culture, they weren’t quite adapted at that level.

“So hopefully we will recreate JJs, recreate Jack Staceys because when people have come into our environment in the past, they’ve usually gone forward.

“It’s not just those two, we’ve managed to sell players, we’ve managed to develop players, people were having their best times when they were at Luton so we want to recreate that.

“Now we’ve got a culture still here, the environment is still here and we want to nurture that, develop that and then try and recreate the levels that we were at.

“That’s not being disrespectful to anyone else, I’m saying we want to recreate our levels and if we do that, then I’m sure we will get the results we need.”

To develop players like Justin, then Town will need to get the best out of their impressive academy, with Jones in his previous spell giving a number of debuts to homegrown players, particularly in the Checkatrade Trophy.

He hopes to be able to continue to do so whatever division Luton find themselves in next term, saying: “In terms of taking the club forward, it is a totally different world now but I believe we have real good credentials.

“You’re going to have to do good work, you’re going to have to recruit well, you’re going to have to develop players, have to work with tight groups, all those things are part of our philosophy anyway.

“We believe we do good work here because it’s a tight, real intricate group.

“It’s a talented group, there are young players here that will develop and we want to do that.

"Gary (Sweet, chief executive) and the club have committed with the academy to produce more James Justins for example and we want to do that.

“I believe we are equipped for that and take away sentiment, take away the previous work, that’s why I believe this is the right fit, definitely the right fit for me.

"And I think we have proved we are the right fit for Luton in the past.”