Town chief insists Luton are starting to gather momentum ahead of Bluebirds trip

Luton manager Nathan Jones believes his side are finally starting to gain some momentum in the league after their difficult start to the season.

The Hatters, who came into the new campaign as one of the sides to watch following their play-off antics last term, went four games without a win to begin with, taking just two points in that time.

However, they triumphed 2-0 at Swansea City, before earning a 1-1 draw against then leaders Sheffield United on Friday evening, meaning they can head to Cardiff City with plenty of optimism this evening, as Jones said: “We should have beaten Birmingham, we’ve said that.

“Burnley I thought we were excellent, especially out of possession, Preston was much of a muchness, Bristol City we were terrible and then we’ve really started gathering a bit of momentum now.

“We’ve started to be a bit more us and I’m really proud of that performance (against Sheffield United).

“I thought everyone had to play well and we did.

“Look at the bench and the strength we’ve got there, look at people like Pelly (Mpanzu), (Alfie) Doughty, Harry Cornick to come back as well, we’re in a decent place.

“It's been a tough month with the games we’ve had, and this is as tough a game as you can have, well probably Sheffield United away is slightly tougher than Sheffield United at home, but it’s a real tough game.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries, had less time than others to prepare, a disjointed pre-season, so we’ve got all the excuses in the world to start slowly and we did start a bit slowly.

“But now, the last two games four points against Swansea away and Sheffield United at home, that’s not a bad return because that’s two good sides there.

“We’re back to where we were and that’s the pleasing thing.”

Town’s defending was another thing that impressed Jones too, as despite being breached by Oli McBurnie’s close range volley, they conceded very few clear-cut chances, as keeper Ethan Horvath once more had a relatively quiet night.

He continued: “To concede one goal against Sheffield United and Swansea away you have to have defended well, so I’m really pleased with the way they’re defending.

“I’m really pleased with the levels they’re showing in and out of possession as well, and we will get better, that’s the good thing.

“I know we’re going to be up to speed more, we are getting people back, we’ll have these mad game-changers to come in as the squad is very, very strong and I’m really pleased.

“These (United) have cruised games, I watched them play Blackburn and they cruised the game, absolutely cruised the game, that was categorically different.”

Luton are back in action this evening as they head up the M4 once more, for a third time in two weeks to face Cardiff City.

The Bluebirds have taken eight points from their opening six games, but on heading back to a venue where Town triumphed 1-0 last term thanks to Harry Cornick’s header, Jones added: “It’s still another journey, nothing we can do, they come thick and fast, we’re going back into God’s country so we’ll look forward to it.

“It’ll be a tough game, they’re a good side Cardiff, they've started well under Steve (Morison) signed well, signed some good players.

"But we’re a good team, we’re happy with how we do stuff and we’re looking forward to it.

"We’ll dust ourselves down, we’ve got an extra how many hours it is, so we’ll just have to use that and then go after it.”