Jones targets another 200 games in charge of Luton as he declares Preston win his best yet

Luton boss Nathan Jones has targeted another 200 games in charge of the Hatters after reaching his double century milestone with a 3-0 win over Preston North End this afternoon.

The 47-year-old became only the sixth manager in the club's history to reach the landmark, going level with Mike Newell in the process.

To make it even better, the victory was his 100th as Town chief as well, giving him a win ration of exactly 50 per cent, a record bettered only by Scotsman Allan Brown, who managed half a percent better during his spell at the helm between 1966-68, winning 55 of his 109 matches, leading Luton to the Division Four title.

Speaking about the future, Jones said: "I hope that I’m entrusted to manage these for another 200, I really, really do.

"And if I’m honest, I would take the same record all day long.

"If after 400 games I’m still in charge, and we’ve won 200 of them, then I know we’re doing something right and I would love that, I would love nothing more than that.”

Striker James Collins, who was the hero of the day, scoring a hat-trick to defeat the Lilywhites, said of the man who signed him from Crawley Town back in the summer of 2017 when Town were a League Two club: “That’s a hell of a record to have, 100 wins out of 200 as a manager, that’s brilliant.

"He deserves it all and I think the lads put on a great performance for him today and credit goes to everyone involved with Luton Town.”

After racking up some superb victories during his two stints in charge, Jones insisted that today’s display now moves to the top of his list, saying: “It’s the best, because without being disrespectful, beating Yeovil 8-2, this is a better win.

"Without being disrespectful to Yeovil in any way as it’s a club I love, Cambridge 7-0, this is far more of an achievement because of the level.

"Now to score seven goals even in a training game is phenomenal, but the level of performance that we put in today, to beat a side, an Alex Neil side, as they’re aggressive in what they do and how they go about it, to do that shows that we’re not in a bad place.

“It gives a nice bit of symmetry as well, 100th win which is always nice.

"I know it was (win percentage) a little bit higher than that in League One and League Two, but bear in mind this is the Championship and where we are.

"I’m so proud of the team, but the level of performance for me is what gives me the greatest satisfaction because of who we played against and the level shows that we are moving forward.”

The win also came in front of 2,000 Luton fans, the biggest crowd inside Kenilworth Road since late February, and Jones now wants to see even more supporters present as soon as possible.

He added: "The fans were superb, I'm just desperate now to keep getting more fans in, because they’re such a difference to us.

"It shows that we can put in some wonderful, wonderful performances when we’ve got fans behind us.

“It’s brilliant and the 1,000 the other night (against Norwich) to be fair to them were just absolutely magnificent, but another 1,000 today makes it even better.

"This is a unique ground, it’s a wonderful place, and the more we can fill it with noise is phenomenal as 10,000 here make more than 20 (thousand) at others, because of one the acoustics, two the level they are, and they're such a passionate group.

"We just long to have them back because they do make a massive difference."