Jones: Moncur remains a 'massive part' of Town's survival bid

Hatters midfielder George Moncur is still a ‘massive part’ of the club’s bid to stay up this term according to manager Nathan Jones.

The 26-year-old has only featured once since the Championship resumed last month, that in the opening game against Preston, when he came on with 15 minutes to go, when Town were trailing 1-0, before hitting back through Callum McManaman to gain a point.

Although he hasn’t been used since, Jones insisted the former Barnsley and Colchester player remains a vital component of the squad, saying: “I signed George, I really like George, it’s just the time that we put him in.

“If we're chasing anything then George is one you can go to, but at the moment we haven't been chasing stuff.

“At Leeds we were in front, at Swansea were in front, when we were chasing against Preston, we brought him on, he had a big impact.

“We haven't been chasing though and have scored first in three of the five games.

“When we did chase it we used him and then Reading were out of sight, so it was very difficult there.

“But he has a massive part to play, he's a great character and that’s why we brought them here.

“So for him it's about keeping the faith and trusting and being ready for his opportunity.”

Midfielder Andrew Shinnie is another who had barely played prior to Tuesday night, when he had the second half against Barnsley, only his second outing since the resumption.

The Scotsman gave an impressive display though, as Jones continued: “That’s why being a manager is so difficult at times as you want to keep everyone ready because they’re going to be needed.

“I've said to them and I've tried to reiterate, ‘you’re going to be needed,’ and those who do believe that, train hard, take the knocks, be patient, then when they get their opportunities, take them, those are the players that you want.

“It’s a squad game now, it's not 11. If you have 11 players and you're just interested in 11 players, you're going to be done as you're not going to be able to maintain that.”

Shinnie was one of just two changes out of the five available that Jones made during Tuesday night's 1-1 draw with the Tykes, Harry Cornick also coming on.

Barnsley took full advantage of the extra numbers allowed to be used, with one of their late replacements Aapo Halme scoring with his first touch.

On why he didn’t look to his bench more, Jones added: “It’s a minefield, you only make two changes on the night, we had to do them tactically.

“We were 1-0 up, they were chasing the game, so they threw a big centre half on, but we had three centre halves there playing anyway.

“It was a scrappy goal they scored, they didn't carve us open, we didn't get done from great play, it was a real scrappy goal.

“We cleared the header, it came back in, a few ricochets and a toe poke, that's something you can’t really fathom.

“I couldn't put any more centre halves on, so it was one of those things that can happen late on when you're chasing a game.

“I spoke to Mick Harford the other day and he said no matter how tactically great you are and football is evolving over the years, when you really need a goal you chuck a big man on and sometimes that happens.”