Jones insists the 'fantastic' efforts of Luton's stalwarts shouldn't ever be forgotten

Luton boss Nathan Jones insists that supporters shouldn't ever forget just how well the longest-serving members of his squad have done for the Hatters during their time at Kenilworth Road.

Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Millwall saw the manager make five changes to his side from what was an awful 3-0 defeat at Stoke City on Saturday, a performance the manager had labelled as ‘inept.'

Jones brought in all three of his transfer window additions Kal Naismith, Elijah Adebayo and Tom Ince, while giving a first start since December to Joe Morrell, also restoring Ryan Tunnicliffe to the team as well.

That saw James Collins, Harry Cornick, Glen Rea and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu drop to the bench, the quartet all with over 150 appearances each for the club and a combined tally of 784, plus James Bree, who has racked up 56 outings for the club since he joined last summer.

All four of Town's centurions then came on in the second period, as Luton conceded a last-minute equaliser to rob them of two points, as Jones felt he had to make the alterations after such a display at the bet365 Stadium, but believes those who did miss out need to be treated with a bit more respect.

He said: “I think it was necessary to do it because we’ve had a lot of players that have done fantastically well for this football club, for the duration of the time that they’ve been here.

“At the minute, they’ve played a lot of games, they’re tired, they’re not looking fresh and we had to freshen stuff up, but let’s not forget how well those players have done for this football club.

“People are really quick to jump on things. I’m telling you now, those players have done fantastically well and, whatever happens, they’ve earned a bit of patience at times.

“Sometimes I give them patience and sometimes I’m a little bit loyal to players that have done brilliantly for Luton Town Football Club.

“But the time came for a bit of freshness and we did that and I thought we were excellent.

“The time’s going to come when those players will go back in because they’re good players and they’ve done well for this football club so let’s not have short memories.”