Town chief hadn't wanted Rea to leave on deadline day as midfielder completed Latics loan switch

Luton boss Nathan Jones conceded he hadn't wanted to let Glen Rea leave the club on transfer deadline day, but agreed to the switch to let the long-serving midfielder get some much-needed game time.

After struggling to break into the starting line-up at the start of the season, the 27-year-old eventually began six successive games between September and October, Town winning three and drawing two, but following the 2-0 loss at Preston, he didn't feature again until a month later, the 2-1 home defeat to Cardiff City.

Rea's next game came against Bristol City, as he completed 90 minutes of the 2-1 victory, before he was allowed to join the League One promotion-chasers on Monday.

The former Brighton player, who has made 207 appearances, scoring eight goals since arriving in March 2016, stated how his desire to play regular football and win another promotion was behind the move north.

Although it wasn't a departure Jones had been planning, the manager told the club's official website: “We didn’t want Glen to go.

"We didn’t do much business in the window because we believe our squad is very strong and compact.

"Unless we could have significantly improved it, we didn’t want to just sign bodies so that meant we kept in house what we have, which is a tight-knit group.

"Glen is a player that wants to play, is very hungry and has been absolutely wonderful for me in my time at the club.

“This season he has shown a real humility when he hasn’t played.

"When he has played, we have won football matches and he’s done very well, it’s just he wanted to play, and we couldn’t guarantee him game time.

“We believe this is the right challenge for him in the short term because he’s at the stage of his career, especially after a big injury a few years ago, where he wants to play.

"Credit to him, his attitude has been exceptional, he’s been a big part of what we do but we had to be fair to him.

“I’m pleased that we have enough cover in the position.

"We believe Gabe Osho can step up as well and I’m pleased for Glen because I know he is going to do well for them."