Luton chief felt it was a 'calculated risk' to bring in Premier League duo on loan

Hatters boss Nathan Jones believes it was a ‘calculated risk’ to bring in loan signings Rhys Norrington-Davies and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Premier League sides Sheffield United and Leicester City this season.

The duo have both made a terrific start to life at Kenilworth Road, Norrington-Davies’ early season performances earning him a maiden call-up to the Wales senior team, winning three caps in the process.

Dewsbury-Hall, who arrived on deadline day from the Foxes, has been sensational in the past month, looking every inch a top flight star in the making, carrying on that form during the 3-0 win over Preston North End at the weekend with another high-class display.

The Leicester midfielder had penned a long-term deal at the King Power Stadium prior to joining, while this week saw Norrington-Davies extend his contract at Bramall Lane until the summer of 2024.

Although this would appear to rule out a realistic chance of signing the pair permanently, something Jones had hoped to do previously, he was still happy to have brought them in on a temporary basis, saying: “We always want to sign them permanently, we never want to take loans, we never ever want to take loans.

“When we identify certain people that we think can take the club forward then we try to sign them permanently, if we can’t sign them then we’ll usually move to the next available one that we can sign.

“But we felt in certain instances that it was worth the gamble, or worth the risk of not being able to sign them permanently to get them, because what they would provide being in the building, so that’s what we did.

“It is a shame, but we’ve chosen to move the club forward and we want to move the club forward on all levels.

"We felt this was a calculated risk, so we’re delighted to have both players.

“We would like them to be our players and you never know in the future, but one thing, if they go back and don’t quite make it at their clubs, at least we’re at the front of the queue.”

When Norrington-Davies headed back up north this week to put the finishing touches to his new deal, Blades boss Chris Wilder once again reiterated that he would be staying at Kenilworth Road this term, despite having a recall clause in January and his side struggling at the bottom of the Premier League.

On the confirmation that he will keep hold of the left back for the rest of the campaign, Jones added: “I’ve great respect for Chris, so the fact he trusts us with him is very good and I would be biased, but it is the right thing to do, because he’s getting an education here away from Sheffield United.

“I’m pretty sure it would be a similar education in terms of discipline, in terms of development, in terms of what Chris expects from his teams, or his full backs, or his wing backs, I do exactly the same.

“So I think it’s a parallel experience he would be getting and getting real good game time.

“It’s all an education as he’s still young and he needs to learn and he wants to learn, then the boy could have a fantastic career.

“We’re pretty sure he will go back to Sheffield United and have that great career and what a great manager to be working under, so we’re delighted with that.

“We respect that from Chris, we thank him for it, but we believe that we would do a similar job for him in terms of repaying the faith that they’ve given us.”