Jones lauds Town's 'aggressive' performance in beating an 'outstanding' Norwich side

Luton boss Nathan Jones was quick to laud his side’s performance against leaders Norwich City on Wednesday night.

The Hatters had gone into the fixture on the back of four matches without a win, and not tasting victory on home soil since early October either.

Up against a Canaries side who were at the top of the table and on a 10-game unbeaten sequence themselves, with Daniel Farke’s side heavily tipped to win promotion back to the second tier this term, Town turned in a disciplined defensive display, while having more than enough moments as an attacking force as well.

Jones said: “As soon as the whistle went, from start to finish, I thought we were excellent, we were aggressive, we were organised, we looked a threat and it was wonderful.

“Bearing in mind, I know these have got a few out, but these are an outstanding side.

“If you're not all the things you need to be then these can carve you apart and I thought from start to finish we were excellent.”

Although the visitors dominated possession, with 68 per cent of the ball on the night, they only sent four shots on target, Hatters actually having five of their own.

City's only goal came from the penalty spot after Tom Lockyer slipped allowing Przemyslaw Placheta to race through, brought down by James Shea, with Emiliano Buendia converting from 12 yards.

That was sandwiched between another spectacular strike from George Moncur and Matty Pearson's header, with James Collins adding a third from the spot moments after the interval.

Jones put that down to the work-rate and aggression on display from his team, plus a solidity that had been missing during Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Cardiff, as he added: “That was the key, for all their play and for how good a team they are, I don’t think they created many clear-cut chances.

"That was an error from us that gave them that goal and that’s the disappointing thing as no matter how much work you do, how thorough you are, how dedicated you are, as soon as you cross the line, it’s down to them.

"It was a slip, an innocuous slip that led to the penalty and their goal, but I thought we reacted superbly well.

"The thing I was really, really proud of was that first five minutes of the second half, where I thought we were aggressive, came out of the traps and were right at it.

"I thought we were outstanding I really did, got the third goal and that was the key.

“We were aggressive all night, we really did go after them, and it’s very difficult to do that at times against them.

"I spoke to someone involved with Norwich who talked about another team that just sat in and I think if you do that against them, you really can get hurt.

"But I thought we were aggressive at times, were compact at times, we transitioned from that aggression to discipline really, really well and we always carried a threat.

"I don’t think three flatters us in anyway as we had other opportunities.

"We're disappointed with the goal that was disallowed as we don't think it was a foul on the goalkeeper compared to what we had to face at Cardiff on the weekend.

"So a good night for the club, a good night for the players, a good night the fans and a good night for the team as well."