Town trio McCormack, Lawless and Forbes will all join Harford in the Hatters dug-out against United

Former Luton players Alan McCormack, Alex Lawless and Adrian Forbes will all be part of Town’s management team looking to secure victory in the club’s final fixture ahead of the World Cup break against Rotherham United tomorrow.

The trio, who all have roles within the club’s academy, will join interim manager Mick Harford in the dug-out when Town take on the Millers at Kenilworth Road, following Nathan Jones’ departure to take the reins at Southampton earlier in the week.

Speaking about the hastily assembled quartet, Harford said: “Myself, Alan McCormack and Alex Lawless will be brought up from the Academy.

“Adrian Forbes will come along also and give us his help from the development team.

“We’ll have a team there of really good, young coaches who, we believe, in the future will play a big part in our coaching set-up.”

Harford went on to reveal that Town’s squad, all bar two who were signed by Jones during his two spells in charge, have reacted well to the news that the manager has moved on too, as he continued: “They’ve been great, they’ve got on with it.

“They’re really chuffed that Nathan’s gone on to the Premier League, they send him their best wishes.

“They’re very philosophical about it.

“They’ve been great, they’ve trained really well yesterday. It was a group that I took, the 10 or 11 players that played on Tuesday.

“They were fine, trained well. There was another group that trained with Alan McCormack, Adrian Forbes and Alex Lawless, they trained well.

“The way we try to recruit players is different to other clubs and quite unique.

"We believe, and the way they act and the way they are, is just the way we want our players to act.

“They’re just so understanding.

"They know they played a big part in getting Nathan to where he is.

"They sent him off with their best wishes.”

Meanwhile, Luton CEO Gary Sweet was eager to praise the club’s academy staff for the way they have been following the news, as he said: “Academy football still carries on, so Paul Benson is really stepping into some shoes as well.

“The Academy has been a fantastic support.

“If you look at the way Paul Hart has really brought the Academy along, it’s a supporting function of the first-team now, as well as a fantastic breeding ground in its own right.”