Jones wants to see more guile from Pelly

Hatters midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu has been urged to add more guile to his game by boss Nathan Jones.
Midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action against NewcastleMidfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action against Newcastle
Midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu in action against Newcastle

The 23-year-old has had to make do with a watching brief in recent weeks after his sending off against Chesterfield in September, although was back from the start at Port Vale and then Newcastle United on Saturday.

He was withdrawn at half time for Harry Cornick, before being named in the side that faced Peterborough United on Tuesday evening, catching the eye throughout with some excellent distribution and a far better final ball.

Jones knows that has to happen on a more regular basis now, saying: “It’s the thing we know and that decision making in and around the final third, that’s probably the most difficult.

“That’s when you need a cool head, you need that real quality, that decision making and those are the things we just need to work on with Pelly.

“We know he’s an athlete, we know he can drive into those areas, we know he’s big and strong and has that athleticism, it’s just the guile we’ve got to work on and we know that.

“If he had that, then we’ve got some player on our hand.

“(Andrew) Shinnie’s got the guile, not quite the athleticism of Pelly, so if you put those together, you’ve got some player, so that’s what we look at.”