Luton chief will have to manage new signing Snodgrass carefully as he hopes Scottish international can provide 'something special' during Championship run-in

New Town signing Robert Snodgrass - pic: Gareth Owen

Hatters boss Nathan Jones insisted he will have to manage new signing Robert Snodgrass carefully during the run-in to the Championship campaign.

The 34-year-old signed a deal until the end of the season on Friday and was named on the bench for Town’s 1-0 win over Derby County yesterday, although didn't get on for his debut.

The Scottish international hasn’t played since November, leaving West Bromwich Albion in the January transfer window in a bid for regular first team football, eventually deciding to join Luton in the week, having been won over during his meetings with the Town chief.

Although there are no doubts about Snodgrass's ability to play in the second tier, with the ex-Norwich, Hull, West Ham and Aston Villa player a Premier League regular during his career, with over 150 top flight outings, also winning 28 caps for his country, his lack of game-time is a concern for Jones.

Speaking about his arrival, the Town chief knows he can't rush him into action, saying: "We hope a real impact, it's a calculated gamble.

"Character, human, footballer, he’s top, top end, top, top end, now we’ve got to make sure that we get something out of him athletically.

"We’ve got to be careful with him as if we chuck him in and say 'go on, give us 90 minutes,' he could break down and we could lose him.

"So we have to build him up and that’s going to be a tricky one as you look at him on the bench or you look at him in training and you think, 'I want you to play.'

"So I have to manage this and my staff have to manage this really well as the temptation would be to put him in early, but what we want is him to contribute.

"The board has backed us, there’s always small margins here in terms of finances, so he’s given us that little bit of a boost in midfield.

"We’ve needed and that’s why we kept a place open, for something a little bit special, so we’re hoping that he is that bit special.”