Luton boss explains decision to alter the diamond against Carlisle

The Luton chief threw a surprise before kick off, as he opted to go with three upfront in Danny Hylton, Jack Marriott and Isaac Vassell, deploying Dan Potts and Stephen O’Donnell as wing backs, with Glen Rea and Cameron McGeehan the central midfielders.

On why he made the switch, Jones said: “I felt we haven’t really started games at home on the front foot as much, so I thought about just tweaking it and it was a calculation of things we’ve done.

“Putting Alan (Sheehan) as left sided centre half, we probably get the same from him as left sided centre half as left back, so why not add a wide threat in terms of O’Donnell and Potts?

“Then I felt the form the front three are in, I would have had to pick two from three, but thought why not get right at them and have a go.

“I would have liked us to get the first goal, and then we might have been able to get it into our front three a little bit more, but it was something we tried.

“We’re a positive side, we want to win every game and as I said, it’s not a bad point in the end.”

Striker Hylton, who bagged his 14th of the season, felt Luton adapted well to the alterations and enjoyed having two pacy options either side of him to work with.

He said: “I enjoyed it, I thought Vass and Jack are both doing well, the gaffer thought we’re going to play all three and have a right go.

“It was good, really positive and it caused them a lot of problems. They’re both strong lads, both can finish, I really enjoyed it.”

Defender Potts, who was asked to play a lot further forward than he has done before, thought Luton were really starting to get into their groove in the first half, before United counteracted them during the second period.

He added: “First half, we approached it with a different shape. We were starting to get to grips with it and that shape was starting to take its toll on them and we were getting into good areas.

“Then half-time, they’ve come out slightly different, started to push up a bit, put a press on and it was more equal second half.

“It was an end-to-end game for sure, but it’s all about what happens in the boxes isn’t it.”