Jones vows there will be no complacency on show from Luton during FA Cup tie with Sulphurites

Luton boss Nathan Jones has vowed there won’t be any complacency on show from his side when taking on League Two Harrogate Town in the FA Cup third round this afternoon.

The Hatters will go into the tie as firm favourites to progress, but following a day in which there were a number of shocks in the competition, Cambridge beating Newcastle United the main giant-killing, with Boreham Wood defeating AFC Wimbledon, Kidderminster knocking out Reading and Blackpool falling to Hartlepool, then it’s clear the magic of the cup is still alive and kicking.

Harrogate, in only their second season in the Football League, are sitting 13th in the table, but did knock out higher ranked opposition and previous winners in Portsmouth during round two, with a fine 2-1 success at Fratton Park.

Having had the experience of being in Harrogate’s position during his time at Kenilworth Road, then Jones doesn't think his side will take the contest lightly, as he said: “There won’t be any complacency from our side as we don’t all of a sudden think we are a Championship side and we are playing a League Two side so it’ll be easy.

"We know where we’ve come from and in recent years we have been Harrogate in the Harrogate v Luton scenario, so we haven’t forgotten where we’ve come from, and that makes us dangerous.

"Never mind Harrogate being dangerous, we’re dangerous as we’ve evolved and developed into a good side, but we also do the basics right.

"When there’s a giant-killing, or teams from lower leagues beating higher ones, it’s usually because they do the basics better and it means a bit more to them.

"Well it will mean plenty to us as we know where we’ve come from.

"We haven’t drifted from our National League, League Two, League One days, sufficiently, that this will allow for complacency.

"With the greatest respect, three or four years ago we would have gone up against teams like Harrogate and not expected to win, but would have gone into the game with real confidence because we were a real good side in League Two and a real good side in League One.

"We are the same now, in the Championship, so we’ll go into it with confidence, but with the greatest respect for a very good Harrogate side.

"There’ll be no fear, no complacency and if we get beaten it will be because Harrogate were better than us on the, not because we would have taken our foot off the gas.”

Under manager Simon Weaver, Harrogate have had a superb rise from National League North to the Football League for the first time in their history.

With the two teams meeting for the first time in any competition, it adds a bit of romance to the tie that Jones had hoped for when the balls were drawn.

He continued: “Simon Weaver has done a wonderful job there, he really has.

"They have good continuity and the manager has done really well, they’ve come up from the Conference North, through the National League and now they’re playing well at League Two level.

"It will be a massively tough game because they are very regimented in what they do, they have been together a while, signed one or two new players now but it will be a real tough game and we like these games.

"When we were League Two, we loved going up against Championship and Premier League sides, we fancied our chances all the time we so know how Harrogate feel.

"It is a really romantic one, one we are really looking forward to.”

Although victory for the Hatters would increase their fixture backlog in the second half of the season, a cup run is something Jones would welcome, if Town could give their supporters the day out at a Premier League club they missed when last season's trip to Chelsea was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He added: "The FA Cup’s a wonderful, wonderful competition, one with great history and one that I’ve been very proud to play in and manage in.

"Ideally we’d probably like to win it, or to maybe have a few games and get a real good lucrative draw.

"We had two wonderful draws last year against Chelsea and Man United, but no fans.

"We’d like to give the fans something, they had a wonderful trip away to Newcastle a few years ago, and we’d like to give them something like that again, so that’s what ideally.

“As with the greatest respect, the Championship’s our bread and butter and we need to do that.

"There are big sides that are probably better than us in terms of Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool that are probably going to win the tournament, so let’s have an adventure and then concentrate on the league."