Jones ready to go up against one of his mentors in 'immense' Forest boss Chris Hughton

Luton boss Nathan Jones is looking forward to locking horns with one of his mentors in the game this evening, Nottingham Forest chief Chris Hughton.

The 61-year-old was in charge at Brighton & Hove Albion between 2014-19, taking over a Seagulls backroom staff that included Jones, who had moved south from his role with Charlton Athletic.

He named the Welshman assistant manager and then first team coach, before Jones left for his first spell at Kenilworth Road in January 2016.

Hughton departed the Amex Stadium in May 2019, and has only just got back into football, taking charge at the City Ground earlier this month after Sabri Lamouchi was sacked.

The former Spurs defender has already had an impact, ending a run of five straight defeats, with one win and two draws from his first three matches, as Jones said: “Chris is immense, he taught me a lot as a manager.

"He’s got a wonderful pedigree, but he’s proven at this level, especially, he’s a very, very successful manager but he’s also a wonderful human being.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him, but I’ve also learnt so much from him generally.

“People often say that and use that, but I’ve had a few people, two or three who I’ve really learned from.

“Chris is one of those, Paul Hart (Town first team coach) is one of those here as well, so it’ll be great to see him.

“We know what kind of game we’re going to get, it will be a tough game, they’ve got real talented players as you found out last year.

“I was at the game at Forest (3-1 defeat) where they scored some wonderful goals.

“So we’ve got to know that we’ve got to be at it.

"Chris will have his team up for it, they’ve been unbeaten since he’s come in, he’ll want to continue that, so we’re going to make sure that we’re right at it as well.”

When asked exactly what it was that Hughton taught him, Jones, who had led Brighton in two matches once ex-Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia was dismissed, continued: “It was more managerial things.

“I felt at the time just before he came in when I was caretaker that I was ready and I probably wasn’t to be honest with you.

“Seeing how he works, seeing how he handles situations, how he manages people and football clubs, the grace and humility that he does everything with is quite inspiring and I actually got on with him as well.

“He gave me a lot of autonomy to coach, to do what I wanted to do when he didn’t have to that but he saw something in me that I was very grateful for.

“I have a lot of time for him, I have a lot to thank him for but he’s that type of guy.

“Ask any human being about Chris Hughton, they always say one thing, he’s a great guy and that is how he is as a character.”

Jones has carried on his relationship with Hughton since the pair parted ways too, saying: “I spoke to him when I came out of Stoke and I spoke to him when I came back here.

“He’s always very supportive and a real good friend of mine.

“I might not speak to him for a little while but it is always great to catch up with him and I’ve got a good relationship with him.

“It will be good to see him but as I said, it is a game we want to win.”

Just because Jones has picked up some inside knowledge on how Hughton works though, he doesn’t believe it he will given Town any advantage at Kenilworth Road this evening.

He added: “Not really, it’s not the manager.

"The manager will put his style and stamp on a team, so I’m not coming up against Chris Hughton, we’re coming up against Nottingham Forest.

"It’s Chris Hughton’s team but it’s Nottingham Forest, so they will play a certain way, that Chris wants them to play, whatever that way is.

"Then it’s how they implement his game-plan and the same with me.

"So, Chris Hughton is not coming up against Nathan Jones tomorrow, Nottingham Forest are coming up against Luton Town.

"That’s the thing, I didn’t know Sabri Lamouchi before I came up against him, he’s a lovely fella, but I wasn’t coming up against Sabri Lamouchi, it’s just that, on the day, it’s billed as that.

"I have a certain thing about Chris because I know how he likes to do certain stuff, but he knows how I like things.

"So there’s no edge there because we both know each other very well. It’ll come down to the teams."