Luton chief firmly believes five substitutes should be reintroduced to the Championship

Hatters boss Nathan Jones is a staunch believer that five substitutes should be reintroduced to the Championship this season.

Last term, clubs could bring on up to five players in a league clash, two more than previously allowed, due to the strains on squads during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, that rule was then scrubbed at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign, but has been criticised recently, particularly by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, who has been increasingly vocal in his belief it should be restored to protect players.

Jones, who had also championed the idea last season, threw his support behind the plea, especially with squads being hit by the increased surge in Omicron cases recently, which has led to Town's last four matches all being postponed.

He said: “It was ridiculous that it got stopped.

“With the world we’re in, plus you have to have 25-man squads now, so nine on the bench and five subs, it’s just logical.

“That’s the trouble with some of the rulemakers around in the world, not just in football, when it’s logical it doesn’t happen.

“You want to be clever, do this, do that, but it’s back to the old school, the old way of doing stuff, no, it’s right.

“The way squads are now with players and the world changing, attitudes of players change if they’re not involved and so on. It’s right.”

Jones is hoping that the rules are altered for the second half of the campaign, adding: “You’ve got to pick from one to 25, if you can’t, give an under-21 or an academy graduate some experience.

"It’s the right thing to do, so let’s hope they go back and see sense and some sort of common sense, which is why they did it in the first place.

"It’s still relevant now.”