Hatters chief admits it might have been 'too early' to bring Rea back

Hatters midfielder Glen Rea on his comeback against Stoke

The 25-year-old had suffered a serious cruciate ligament for the Hatters back in December of last year, which kept him out for the rest of the season.

He made a full recovery recently, and then went on loan to National League side Woking for a month, featuring seven times.

With Luke Bolton missing the clash at the bet 365 Stadium due to sickness, Rea was named on the bench, coming on at half time for Andrew Shinnie with the Hatters already trailing 2-0.

He was booked within a minute of the restart and then lost possession to Joe Allen, the former Liverpool player then strolling through a retreating Town back-line to curl home his side’s third goal.

Jones said: “If I’m being fair with Glen, he got chucked in a little bit.

“We needed to show a bit of resilience, we needed an expert defensive midfield player and it was maybe a little bit too early for him.

“He’s a wonderful boy and a good player, he’s got the right intentions, I’ve just got to give him a chance as well.”