Jones wants Town to stifle the threat of Boro's 'different thinker' Watmore

Luton boss Nathan Jones is hoping his side can stifle the threat of Middlesbrough attacker Duncan Watmore this evening.

The 26-year-old was incredibly highly rated during his time at Sunderland after signing from Altrincham in May 2013, a regular in the Premier League and also the England U21s under Gareth Southgate.

Two serious knee injuries hampered his progression though and he was restricted to just 87 appearances in total during his seven years at the Stadium of Light, scoring eight goals, leaving the Black Cats in the summer.

He moved to the Riverside Stadium in November, penning on a short term contract and has scored four goals in six games already, with doubles in the 2-1 win over Swansea and 3-0 victory against Millwall at the weekend.

Jones has worked with Watmore previously, as when at Brighton in 2015, he shadowed Southgate for the U21s, and speaking about the Boro winger, who has an economics and business management degree, on Monday, he said: "It is good to see (him back), just hopefully not tomorrow.

"I know Duncan. I worked with Duncan in the U21s and he’s someone I kept an eye on when I was at Brighton.

"He was a real up-and-coming young player at Sunderland but had a lot of bad injuries that curtailed him, but Neil seems to be getting the best out of him.

“I hope we stifle that on Wednesday night, but it is nice to see him back because he’s a great kid, an intelligent one and he’s not your typical football character.

“He’s a very intelligent guy, and I don’t mean that with any disrespect to any other footballer but he’s a different thinker and it’s good to see him over those injury worries. "