Cherries defender Stacey thrilled to finally come up against his old Luton team-mates

Former Luton full back Jack Stacey is looking forward to finally coming up against his former team-mates when the Hatters head to Bournemouth this afternoon.

The 24-year-old made 95 appearances for the Hatters, scoring five goals during his two years at Kenilworth Road, becoming a hugely popular member of the squad, winning a host of end of season awards as Town won promotion to the Championship.

He then headed to the south coast in the summer of 2019, but injury saw him miss the FA Cup clash at the Vitality Stadium last term.

Stacey was also ruled out of the 0-0 draw in Bedfordshire a few weeks ago with a knee problem, but after getting the all-clear to return, is back and ready to face his ex-club today.

Speaking to the Cherries official website, he said: "I watched the Luton game this season at home, it was a hard one for me to take.

"I missed the FA Cup game last January so when the fixtures came out this year it was one of the first matches I looked for – then I ended up missing that one as well!

"When I first got the injury this was one of the first games that we saw and earmarked to try and get back for. I used that as motivation to get back for this Luton game on Saturday.

"Luckily, I managed to get back a week earlier for the Oldham game, but it's something I'm definitely looking forward to, finally to play against a lot of old friends there and see some old faces.”

Reflecting on his time with Luton, Stacey, who signed from Reading under Nathan Jones during his first spell in charge as manager, added: "I had a really good two years there.

"I made some really good friends there and it's a club that set me up for the career I'll hopefully go on and achieve.

"I only have good things to say about the club, and it'll be really nice to see the players – it's just a shame that I won't be able to see some of the fans as well.”

Speaking about his former player, boss Jones said: "I know pretty much every Bournemouth player, a lot of them personally and Jack is someone that we care about.

"He did fantastically for us, has gone on and is doing very well.

"It was a shame about the injury, but he’s through that, praise the lord it wasn’t too serious but Jack is someone we want to see do superbly well, just not on Saturday."

When asked whether the fact he knows Stacey's strengths and weaknesses so well will be a positive going into the contest this afternoon, Jones added: "We know a lot of people's games so it’s about being able to stop those quality players and good athletes.

"You know what they usually do, it will be a test but we want to try and impose ourselves on it and we want to try and exploit certain things that maybe he isn’t as good at, or they aren’t as good at.

"It will be a tough, tough game because they are a fantastic side and one of those sides that are expected to be top two because of the pedigree and the stature."