Luton chief aware Imps clash was more significant than Vale trip

The Hatters produced a wonderful display against the Imps at Kenilworth Road to triumph 4-2, the result coming just 48 hours after a disappointing 4-0 reverse at Vale Park.

On the results, Jones said: “We went there (Port Vale) and it was a different game, because this is our home pitch, it’s a lovely pitch and the fans get behind us.

“You go to Port Vale and it’s no fault of their own or the management, the pitch is bad up there, it’s not conducive to how we play.

“We had to dig in, and they’re better at digging in than we are and so on.

“But this was a more important game than Port Vale and that’s not being disrespectful.

“These (Lincoln) were eight points behind us going into the game, so if we were going to lose one game going into the Christmas period, then that was the game.

“Because Swindon are higher than them, Grimsby are higher than them, they might come with a late run, so I’m just saying now, this was the real important game.

“We showed we were quality, and it was important after coming off the back of a defeat.

“We didn’t want to have another one, after four minutes going down and being down to 10 men, then going into the cup game too, so we’ve got two weeks to stew on it and so on, but it’s a totally different atmosphere now.”

Despite the defeat, the biggest in his reign so far, Jones never once worried going into the Lincoln encounter, adding: “It’s not that we’re in bad form and starting to panic, we’re in a good place, a wonderful place in fact.

“It was just important for us to bounce back and I saw a lot about changes (for the Vale game), I didn’t really make many changes to be honest.

“It was a different game to Swindon away on a beautiful pitch and a nice stadium.

“You go to Port Vale, it’s heavy, they’re in good form, they’re used to it slightly more than we are, so it was just one of those games.

“I didn’t get too down about that, we know when we’re here (Kenilworth Road), we’re a good side and we are a good side.”