Cohen eager to link up with mentor Jones after leaving the Reds for Hatters

New Luton first team coach Chris Cohen has hailed the important role that Town boss Nathan Jones played during the early stages of his career.

After coming through the ranks at West Ham United, Cohen was then sent to Yeovil Town as a youngster, making his Glovers debut as an 18-year-old during a 2-1 home defeat to Huddersfield Town.

In the Yeovil side that day was also the Town manager Jones, who aged 32, had been a pro himself for almost 15 years by this point.

He went on to have a big impact on Cohen's career, the now 33-year-old saying: "I went down to Yeovil on loan from West Ham as a youngster trying to make my way in the game and Nathan looked after me, mentored me and showed me what it was like to be a professional footballer.

“I’d done it a little bit at West Ham, but he showed me the real way of doing it and I learned so much from him.

"Real good life lessons that allowed me to go on and have an OK career after that.”

Cohen went on to sign permanently at Huish Park, moving to Nottingham Forest two years later where he went on to play over 300 times.

On retiring in 2018, he joined the coaching staff, first as an Academy technical coach and more recently as an U23s coach.

However, he was determined to be involved with a first team squad and when the chance came to move south to Luton to link up with Jones once more though, Cohen jumped at it, saying: "I’ve been coaching for three years now since retiring and we’ve had lots of success, with plenty of boys getting into the first team.

“But I always wanted to be in and around a first team as soon as possible and the pathway wasn’t there at Nottingham Forest anymore for me.

“So to have an opportunity to come to a real progressive club and somewhere that is looking upwards is a fantastic chance for me.

"I feel really fortunate to be here at Luton, and looking forward to working with some great people.

“After speaking with Gary (Sweet, chief executive) and Nathan for the last couple of months, I’m just glad to be here and to be part of something progressive, with the same values as I have about hard work and bringing that work ethic every single day.

“You can see the results of it with what the boys are getting on the pitch.

"That comes from players, fans, the board, everyone sticking together and doing the right thing, and I’m looking forward to being a small part of helping the club keep going forward.”