'No malice' from Jones as he insists both and Luton have benefitted from his 'learning curve' as Stoke manager

Town boss Nathan Jones believes that both he and the Hatters have benefitted in a roundabout way to his difficult spell as manager of tomorrow's opponents Stoke City.

The Luton chief controversially left Kenilworth Road back in January 2019 to head to the Potters, then a division above Luton, but was sacked after eight months with a record of just six wins from 38 matches.

He was out of work for six months, returning to Luton in May 2020, leading the club out of relegation trouble and ensuring they stayed in the second tier.

Jones masterminded a 12th place finish last season and now has the Hatters as genuine play-off contenders this term, also regaining his relationship with the club's supporters once more, as he said: “I’ve no malice against the club, the owners, I get on well with.

"They gave me enough time, so there’s no malice, but I’m back where I love being.

“Ironically, it was a great learning curve for me, so I’m a better manager now.

"I think I reaped the benefit of my time there and, ironically, so did Luton.

“It’s all water under the bridge.

"It’s an old club, when I was a player I loved playing against my old clubs.

"Now, as a manager, I love playing against my old clubs, but I’m in a place I want to be.”

Although Jones has come up against Stoke twice since his return to Bedfordshire, neither game was in front of supporters, with grounds closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, there should be 10,000 inside Kenilworth Road this weekend, as Jones continued: “The ironic thing was I had a good relationship with the fans.

"They saw what we were trying to do, it’s just we didn’t get results.

"We did good work at the club, but didn’t get results, it’s one of those things.

“That’s what creates an atmosphere, that’s why fans are brilliant.

"Our away fans are absolutely magnificent.

"It’s not too big a journey so I’m sure Stoke will have enough fans here and then it’s up to us to give our fans enough to cheer, and normally we do that, especially at home.”

Despite the two defeats last season, losing 2-0 at Kenilworth Road, before a dismal showing at the Bet 365 stadium in which Town went down 3-0 with just one shot on target, Jones didn’t feel there was anything more on this game.

He said: “I think they demonstrated more quality in those games, but we’re a different team now.

"This time last year, we played them at home and there was very little in the game but (Steven) Fletcher and (Nick) Powell were the two outstanding ones and punished us.

“We put in one of our worst performances away from home and we really were inept.

"Now and again, we have a performance like that.

"We had one of those against Preston last week, or Birmingham, but we don’t do that very often, so we are different.

“It’s a game and I’ll take no more pleasure winning on Saturday than I did on Tuesday night, but I’ll take great pleasure in winning because we always do.”

The Potters will be without midfielder and top scorer Nick Powell for the match, a player who Jones signed on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic when in charge of the Potters back in June 2019.

He suffered a cracked fibula recently, missing Wednesday night's 1-0 win at Blackpool which ended a five game winless run for City, who had lost four, and saw them leapfrog Luton to climb back into the play-offs, now sitting sixth.

On how much they will miss Powell, who has netted in both of Stoke's recent wins against Town, Jones added: "Nick Powell improves pretty much every Championship team.

"I signed him and he’s a wonderful player.

"He’s really found a bit of a home there now, but I think by his own admission, he’s probably not pushed himself as much.

"When he signed for me I told him, ‘if you’re not going to give everything for me, then don’t sign here’.

“In the end, we had three meetings, which I don’t normally need, and he ended up signing.

“He would be a miss for any Championship side, but I don’t think they’ve struggled.

"They’ve still picked up results and they’re still top six.

"OK, they’re not top three, but they’re top six, so it shows they’re still in a good place."