Luton attacker denies Town's players were unsettled by Southampton's pursuit of Hatters boss Jones ahead of Stoke defeat

Town attacker Harry Cornick refused to blame the speculation surrounding boss Nathan Jones and a possible move to Premier League club Southampton as the reason behind Luton’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke City last night.

Going into the contest, the Hatters squad had found out that Jones was the number one candidate for the managerial vacancy on the south coast, receiving permission from the Hatters to head to the Saints for talks once their trip to the Bet365 Stadium was done and dusted.

Any hopes of his side recording back-to-back wins following their 1-0 success at Blackpool on Saturday were swiftly blown away as the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead after just 13 minutes, Nick Powell left unmarked to head home and then Tom Lockyer putting through his own goal.

Jones himself stated the players would have been unsettled by the rumours, declaring it was his fault for the untimely distraction, but Cornick didn’t want to use that as an excuse, as he said: “Not really, no, we know as much as the fans know, as much as the reporter knows.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, we just know what Luton have released really, so we knew we had to put in a shift tonight to get a result and we weren’t good enough.

“It wasn’t anything to do with unsettling this, that or the other, it was people on the pitch and we just didn’t get it done.

“We’ve had some great chances, but we gifted them two early goals and it’s just ruined our gameplan really.

“We dig deep, we had a great result at the weekend, we’ve had five games in 11 days we've got another game Saturday, the boys have been working so hard, but we fell short today.

"The fans were unbelievable again, cheering us on to the last minute, we had every chance, but we just fell short.”

Despite giving themselves a mountain to climb with those two early goals, Luton were still in with a chance of getting something from the contest, Carlton Morris fluffing a great opportunity, volleying Amari’i Bell’s cross straight at Potters keeper Jack Bonham in the first half.

After the break, a completely unmarked Lockyer should have made amends for his earlier error, picked out by James Bree’s corner, but could only sidefoot against the post, Cornick then slicing the rebound over.

The forward knew his side should have done better in front of goal, as he continued: “When they went 2-0 up we thought if we get the next goal it’s game on, we just couldn't quite get the ball in the net tonight and make a game of it.

“Two-nil probably doesn't show the whole game, we had some great chances, I thought we dominated large periods of the game, we just lacked a bit in the final third and gave them two early goals which cost us.

“They’re good chances, but we’ve all had good chances tonight.

“I’ve had a chance but it was more the way we didn't really threaten them too much.

“We had a chance and then gave a silly free kick away, we didn't get any momentum into the game where we could get one goal and then get another, or a few chances in a row.

“It doesn't fall on anyone tonight it’s a team effort.

"All of us have put a real shift in to try and get a result and I felt like we could have got one.

“We played well enough to get one but it wasn't to be.

"Two-nil flattered them a little bit and we know we've got to put it right Saturday.”