Jones urges Luton to secure promotion at the first attempt

Hatters boss Nathan Jones has urged his side to take their chance and seal promotion at the first attempt on Saturday.
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

Luton head to Carlisle United knowing that victory will ensure they are playing League One football next season.

A draw might be enough if fourth placed Exeter fail to beat Crawley at home, but Jones wants to take the Grecians out of the equation.

He said: “We know we need one win to secure promotion, so the earlier we can get it the better.

“We’ve got a tough game at the weekend, but we want to get it done and we want to do it ourselves, that’s the main thing.

“It’s a tight league, in so many ways. Exeter are in good form, Wycombe also, they’re good sides, we’re all pushing each other in that way.

“Thankfully we’re in good form ourselves and it’s in our hands, so lets make sure we get it done.”

Town could have been having a promotion party at Brunton Park had Exeter lost at home to struggling Chesterfield on Tuesday night, but the result went to form, Paul Tisdale’s side winning 2-0.

Jones continued: “Chesterfield have proved that they’re a strange side, they beat us, they beat Notts County and they were comfortable on both occasions, albeit at home, so a slight difference.

“We’d have liked it to have happened the other night, it wasn’t quite possible, but it’s a weird league, anyone beats anyone, you’ve seen that with us, with Accrington, with others in the league.

“To get three points no matter who you’re playing takes a big, big effort, plenty of quality and a bit of luck.”

Leaders Accrington sealed their place in the third tier of English football on Tuesday evening, beating Yeovil Town 2-0.

It saw them move four points in front of the Hatters with four games of their own still to play, and on whether Luton were looking to win the title, Jones said: “Lets do one thing first and then we can see where we are.

“Right now, we’d probably settle for promotion, guaranteed. But if we do that, and the earlier we do that, then we set our sights on winning as many games as we possibly can and putting pressure on Accrington.”

One thing for certain for Jones is that he wasn’t planning any celebrations until the job is finally done, adding: “It’s a little bit difficult to explain that as we don’t think what are we going to do?

“What we do, is we’ve got one goal. Once we achieve one goal, then if the other one’s still alive, we go after that one.

“So it’s not about partying, about celebrating, they can do that enough in May and June, it’s all about achieving what we want to achieve.

“We’ve come so far, nine months of real hard graft, they’ve been a great group, so we wouldn’t want to do anything silly now.

“We want to get over the line first, once we get over the line then you can ask me that question and I’ll give you something a little bit more factual.”