Hatters boss knows star Town striker Adebayo and a few other Luton players are 'off it'

Hatters boss Nathan Jones is aware that striker Elijah Adebayo and a few other members of his Town squad are yet to hit the kind of form that they have shown in their Luton careers to date.

The 24-year-old forward in particular hasn’t been in anywhere near the sort of form that has seen him become one of the most prized assets in Town’s squad during his previous 18 months at the club, with Major Soccer League side DC United, managed by Wayne Rooney, declaring an interest in the ex-Fulham youngster this summer.

He has struggled with his hold-up play at times, giving the ball in the build-up to Bristol City’s opener on Tuesday night, while his tracking back has left plenty to be desired as well.

Crucially the former Walsall and Swindon attacker is yet to hit the target in either of his four outings so far either, inches away from opening his account when trying to pick out the bottom corner from range at Ashton Gate in midweek, also blazing a good opening over the top during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Preston North End.

Jones knows it isn’t just Adebayo who is struggling though, saying: “It’s a few little things.

“When you have such a good season and so on, mentally you might need a little shift to get back on it.

"But at the minute there's a few off it, a few not performing to the levels that they attained last year and that's what we've got to get back to.”

Jones also pointed to the loss of Kal Naismith as a factor behind Town’s difficult start which sees them sitting second bottom of the table after picking up just two points in four games.

The centre half dictated things against the Hatters for the Robins on Tuesday night, as Jones added: “We lost an influential figure and you've seen how good Kal was tonight in terms of in possession, we haven't replaced that, because it's very difficult to replace.

“So we're still in a bit of transition from last year.

"We’ve got a number of new ones, we’ve still got Alfie (Doughty) to come in, Harry’s (Cornick) picked up in injury so all these things have to come together.

“We’ll get Pelly-Ruddock back, Henri Lansbury back, and it will give us a little bit more, so once we get everyone back, we’ll have a little bit more stability.”