Jones: Preston point is a positive one in Luton's battle to stay up

Hatters manager Nathan Jones felt that his side’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End could well be a positive point in their battle to stay in the Championship this term.

Playing their first game back after three months away due to the coronavirus pandemic and in front of an empty stadium, the Hatters fell behind to Scott Sinclair’s 52nd minute opener.

However, with five substitute now able to come on, Jones raided his bench from the 74th minute mark, with one of them, Callum McManaman, firing home an excellent equaliser late on.

Although the result saw Luton fall to the bottom of the division after Barnsley won 1-0 at QPR, they actually cut the deficit to safety, trailing Middlesbrough, who were hammered 3-0 at home by Hatters' next opponents Swansea, by five points.

Jones said: “I thought we started really well, the first five minutes we’ve had a corner, had a shot, so we started on the front foot.

“Preston are a well drilled side so sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get to grips with the game and we haven’t been able to play, because of coronavirus and the game we had called off (against Oxford), so we’re lacking a little bit of sharpness, but that will come.

“It was important today that we got something from the game, as ironically, even through we’ve drawn the game and others have nicked wins, we are closer to safety than when we started.

“So that’s important that we did that as there are some big games coming up.

"We’ve got to make sure that we are in games, make sure we give ourselves a chance for the games that are coming up, but Preston are a good side.”

Hatters’ goal when it came was their first effort on target, and they almost nicked it moments later, Ryan Tunnicliffe's curler flying inches wide.

Jones conceded he was disappointed with the lack of attacking threat from his side during the contest, saying: “Totally, but a lot of our play was frustrating as it’s not what we've worked on.

"Preston are a very good side, I don't know if they started earlier than us, but they’re well drilled, they know what they’re doing, so this is a positive point.

"We'd like to have won the game, but you can't win every game.

"It continues our unbeaten run, it's a tough, tough game, a tough side to play against, I know that, because I've come up against Alex (Neil) a few times.

"We're disappointed with the amount of possession we had, the amount of problems we caused them as it wasn't until late on did we really cause them problems.

"But that shows, one the strength we have, two the game changers, so definitely disappointed and we're going to have to address that, but it's a positive point.”