Jones insists his experience in fighting relegation can help Luton

Graeme Jones makes his point during last weekend's defeat to Nottingham Forest

The 49-year-old was number two to Roberto Martinez at the DW Stadium as the Latics avoided the drop from the top flight three seasons in a row, finishing 16th, 16th and 15th, although did go down by just three points in their final campaign (2012-2013).

Town could drop into the bottom three in the Championship if they lose at Reading this afternoon and MIddlesbrough win at QPR, but Jones said: “Remember I’ve been in lots of relegation battles.

“If you have a look Wigan’s league standings between 2009 and 2013, we were always in trouble and we were having to play against the bog boys with a small budget and compete.

“It’s about getting points, it’s about getting three points if you can.

“We always escaped and the year we didn’t escape, we won the FA Cup, so that’s not the plan, but I’m experienced in this.

"It’s about the next game and the next opportunity to win three points.

“As much as I’ve looked at the evidence and the information from Saturday (2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest), I’ve quickly moved on to approaching the Reading game.”

The Royals themselves have had a tough start to the season, as they were in the bottom three under previous manager Jose Gomes.

He was then replaced by Mark Bowen last month, the former Wales assistant picking up two wins and a draw from his first three games.

That has seen them climb to 19th, one point above Luton, but when asked if there was any extra pressure playing a side around them in the table, Jones said: “I don’t think like that, I’m just thinking, another opportunity to win three points.

“Nobody knows how that final table is going to end up.

“At the minute, they’re somebody that’s down there, but I’m looking at the points total.

"If we win on Saturday it’s 17 points from 16 games, with a third of the season gone.

“If we match the same amount of points, we’d be in a very, very healthy position, so it’s a points total I’m looking at and you have to win football matches to get your points.

“We want to win every game, I don’t approach games and think a draw would be a good result here, I don’t.

“If a draw is a consequence of a good performance and trying to win, then good, but we’re not going there to draw, we’re going there to win and I’ll view every game that way.”