Jones: This has been the hardest transfer window so far

Luton boss Nathan Jones admits the current transfer window is without doubt the ‘hardest’ he has had since being manager of the Hatters.

The Town chief is tasked with improving a squad which defied the bookies’ tag of relegation contenders last term by finishing sixth in the Championship and only just missing out on a place in the play-off final at Wembley after being beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Huddersfield.

He has lost one of his stars of the season in Kal Naismith, while Peter Kioso and Danny Hylton have moved on too, although the incomings so far have impressed, Cauley Woodrow, Alfie Doughty and Matt Macey all signing, with the manager intimating he has another four outfield players in mind, plus a goalkeeper.

Ever since Jones has been at the helm at Kenilworth Road, Luton have improved their league position, which he knows will be even tougher to do in such a competitive league once more, saying: “The process of recruitment is months and months in advance.

“We’ve worked tirelessly, myself, Gary (Sweet, chief executive), Paul Watson (chief operating officer), Chris Clark (secretary), we’ve made sure through the summer to recruit and keep people informed of stuff but it’s never ending.

“It hasn’t been a break, it has probably been the hardest summer that I’ve had personally but also the hardest one recruitment-wise because as we said, to improve on the squad is difficult.

“To then add more quality and to keep in-line with our budget and our wage structure, it takes some creative thinking and a lot of hard work to get things over the line.

“We have managed to do that, it has only been three at the minute but we don’t need as much as we had in recent windows.

“We’re very happy with where we are, in a really good place with five weeks to go and the majority of squad in place which means we can work for five weeks on top of the work we did last year and hopefully we will end up better.”

In his post match press conference at the John Smith’s Stadium following Luton’s 1-0 defeat, Jones declared he already had transfer targets in mind to ensure his side would come back stronger for another crack at promotion from the Championship.

It has led to a number of fiery discussions with Town’s board members at times as he looks to make sure his squad is in place with the players he wants well before the season kicks off against Birmingham City on July 30.

He added: “I’m a nightmare, this is probably the most difficult and most heated time between myself and my chief executive.

“We have a great relationship, we both align and drive each other on and get annoyed, but we do it because they realise how important it is.

“We’ve painted that picture in six pre-seasons, and everything we’ve done, Gary’s worked tirelessly, Paul’s worked tirelessly, all the people involved, it has been non-stop.

“I saw Pep (Guardiola, Manchester City boss) the other day on a beach in Barbados and I thought that would be nice!

“It has been a real hard-working summer and we always like to bring them in early, the club realise that and they work tirelessly like I do.

“It is a process every year that we try to complete as early as possible so we get maximum time with them.”