Luton chief admits Town are down to the 'bare bones' for Hull trip

Hatters have a number of defensive issues following midweek win over Preston
Town defender Reece Burke suffered a hamstring injury against Preston on Wednesday nightTown defender Reece Burke suffered a hamstring injury against Preston on Wednesday night
Town defender Reece Burke suffered a hamstring injury against Preston on Wednesday night

Luton boss Nathan Jones admitted his side are down to the bare bones when it comes to picking a side for this afternoon’s trip to Hull City.

The Hatters were missing Sonny Bradley, Gabe Osho, Kal Naismith, Tom Lockyer, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and Robert Snodgrass for Wednesday night’s 4-0 win over Preston North End, while Reece Burke went off early on when appearing to pull his hamstring.

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When asked if any of the players would be available to head to the MKM Stadium, speaking in midweek, Jones said: “We’ll have to see, our medical room at the moment is like the Bermuda Triangle, anyone who goes in there doesn’t come out.

“We’ll just make sure we’ll try not to train, we try to get to games.

“We’ve got the break now after Saturday, so we’ll just try and get through the weekend, but we are down to absolute bare bones.

“In terms of defensively, we’re beyond bare bones, we’re makeshift, but we’ve just had a wonderful performance.

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“We’ll dust ourselves down, travel up to Hull and see what happens.”

Striker Elijah Adebayo is also a doubt having hobbled off during the final moments of the contest, but Jones continued: “He’ll be fine, I think he just wanted a clap.”

Discussing the contest against the Tigers, who appointed former Georgian international Shota Arveladze in January after Grant McCann was dismissed by the new owners and have struggled at home in recent weeks, Jones said: “It’s a tough game.

"We have to try and get a result, go away, dust them down, but this (Preston win) is a massive result for us.

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"We needed to bounce back and then we go into the international break and whatever happens, we’ll be in touching distance of the top six.

"Then we’ve got two and a half weeks to get everyone back and then we can go again.”

Luton’s last visit to Humberside in July 2020 saw the Hatters pick up a wonderful 1-0 victory courtesy of Kazenga LuaLua’s late goal from range that saw them take a huge step towards Championship survival during their first season back in the second tier.

Jones said: “I’ve got two (memories), one of a wonderful win there and then the last time I went there was the worst plane journey I've ever had in my life.

"So luckily enough we haven’t got enough money to fly.”

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This time, Town at a completely different juncture in their progression, with victory cementing their place inside the top six over the international break.

Jones added: “If Bournemouth don’t go up, if Fulham don’t go up, it’s a disaster for them.

“QPR have spent massive money, Sheffield United have spent massive money, we’ve got the lowest budget in the league, so for us to be in the top five with nine games to go, we’re riding the wave.

“I’m not going to get sacked if we don’t get promoted, but we want to try and achieve something and we believe we’re good enough to achieve something."