Luton boss felt he shouldn't have rested his first teamers against Reading following QPR loss

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw this low shot saved by QPR keeper Seny Dieng on Tuesday night

Town chief Nathan Jones wished he had played his first team in the FA Cup clash against Reading on Saturday after witnessing their lacklustre display during Tuesday night’s 2-0 Championship defeat to QPR.

A number of the Hatters players were taking to the field for the first time in two weeks, after their original clash with the R’s was called off due to positive tests being returned by some members within the Luton squad.

Of the starting 11 that took to the field, only Simon Sluga, Dan Potts and James Bree began the cup tie at the weekend, with Kazenga LuaLua introduced late on, something that Jones felt felt was probably the wrong option.

He said: “We played these at the end of the season last year and we had to contain them as we weren’t that type of team.

“Now we’re a front-footed side and we wanted to go right after them, but we didn’t because any time they went into front, they were able to set and play and we didn’t show our usual bravery.

“Now that might be something to do with we haven’t played for 10 days, so that might be something.

“We rested them on the weekend and in hindsight we probably should have played them and then let them gather momentum and so on.

"But you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t, it is a bad night, and one that I didn’t see coming.”

Defender Matty Pearson missed the game on Tuesday night, although was in the Kenilworth Road stands watching on, as Jones confirmed that despite the scare last month, there was no cases of coronavirus within the squad.

He added: “We had a couple, we had staff isolating with the protocols and you just have to isolate, even if you have no symptoms, you just have to separate them, even though they’re negative.

“They might develop symptoms, might develop it days later as no-one really knows, there’s so many protocols involved in it, that it’s just a disruption.

“We’re all healthy, we have no-one now with Covid, absolutely not.

“We had one or two, probably more staff, who had to self isolate because they’d come into contact with certain people for example, but no symptoms.

"Negative tests, three negatives tests later and it’s done, but that’s the protocols that are in place and rightly so.”