Jones: I’ll pay for Simon Sluga’s wedding if he keeps a clean sheet at Leeds!

Luton boss Nathan Jones joked he would pay for goalkeeper Simon Sluga’s wedding if he keeps a clean sheet against Championship leaders Leeds United at Elland Road tomorrow.

The 27-year-old Croatian international was in brilliant form at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, picking up a fourth clean sheet of the season as Town earned a superb 1-0 win.

He made a good stop from £20m attacker Andre Ayew in the first half, before keeping the Swans forward out once more after the break with his legs, ahead of his stand-out moment, denying defender Ben Cabango with a brilliant close range reaction save from a corner.

Jones had said in his post match press conference that the keeper had done enough to earn a reward and when asked what that was this afternoon, he said: “It’s a private thing, he gets married in the summer so he asked to get a flight earlier than I would have liked him to, so I said ‘if you keep a clean sheet, you can go on the day you need to.’

“His partner is pregnant and he’s getting married, he’s had to change the date because of that and because of COVID-19 so it’s just a reward for his clean sheet.

“If he keeps another one tomorrow, I’ll pay for his wedding!”

Sluga is now in the most consistent form of his short Town career as he had a difficult start to English football when joining from HNK Rijeka for a club record fee in the summer.

He started the last 11 games under previous boss Grame Jones ahead of the season being postponed due to lockdown measures, retaining his place when Jones took over and has now conceded just six goals in his last eight outings.

On how he had found working with Sluga, Jones said: “I’ve known about him because he’s been here for a year.

“I watch a lot of football, I watch Championship football and obviously I had a big interest in Luton even when I wasn’t manager here so I know all about him.

“Training, he’s done well, he’s conceded one goal in two games so let’s hope that continues.

“I know he had a tough start here but at times when you’re a foreign player coming into a difficult league and in a side that was always going to be challenged at this level, sometimes it takes time to settle and ideally you have that settling period.

“With Simon, he was rushed straight into Championship football which is very difficult.

“It’s one of those things, I think he’s getting better week by week, we saw that before I came in.

“I think he was excellent in the unbeaten games they had before and he’s just continued that so I want him to be secure, I want him to take calculated risks and I want him to enjoy his football and you only do that when you’re playing well.”

Sluga looks to have the trust of his back-line now, as he linked well with his defence on Saturday afternoon, while his communication, handling and kicking was secure throughout.

Jones said: “That comes with time, I haven’t done anything revolutionary with Simon.

“We work on certain things day in and day out but I think he’s just had more time now with his back four and his surroundings.

“He’s a lot more confident and comfortable and that’s rubbed off on him.”

Sluga was behind a slightly altered defence at the weekend, with Matty Pearson moving to right back, allowing Sonny Bradley to return in the centre alongside Cameron Carter-Vikcers, Dan Potts operating on the left.

Jones added: “We have always had a good defensive record here to be honest with you.

“At times we were the best or we were always in the top two or three, so even though we were renowned for being a fluent footballing side, defensively we were always very strong.

“That’s the basic that we’ve worked on.

“We’ve played two very good sides and limited them to very, very little and that’s a good thing, a real, real good thing, that’s a positive for us.

“We’ve managed to score one more than the opposition in a game which is a bonus but keeping clean sheets allows you to if you score, you win the game.

“If you’re chasing the game at Championship level, there’s not many who can do it if any, so it’s important we have that platform.”