Hatters boss looking to add Championship experience in the January transfer window

The Town chief is a few weeks away from being able to bolster his options as he looks to navigate the Hatters towards survival in the second tier of English football.

With Luton’s budget meaning they are unlikely to attract players from the Premier League or even the Championship itself, Jones conceded they might have to look lower down the footballing echelon for new additions.

He said: “That’s what’s difficult, you would be looking to recruit from a lower level, which that lower level, unless they’re exceptional, needs time to adapt, which our players have this season.

“I think by and large the majority have given a good level, they’ve certainly played their role.

“It would be nice to bring, if we’re going to bring anyone in, somebody who knows what the Championship is about, because it would help the players that are here.

“So that would be a requirement, but we’ll have to see where we are financially.

“Mick Harford (head of recruitment) and Kevin Reeves (chief scout) have been doing that (looking at players) since the August window closed.

“That’s not being disrespectful to anyone in here, we need to help everybody in here.

"Because sometimes when you trim people’s minutes and people’s responsibilities, they can give you a level of performance that’s difficult to do three games a week, six games in two weeks.

“It’s really, really mentally and physically demanding to reproduce the same levels, so we are always looking to improve, we have to.

"That’s where we are and this next little period to get us to the January transfer window is imperative.”

On how it works with bringing new players in, Jones stated that former boss and club legend Harford will have a major role to play in anyone who arrives next month.

He continued: “Me and Mick communicate regularly, so Mick knows positions we’re looking for, he knows the characters I’m looking for, he knows their previous experience that I’m looking for.

“Mick’s job is to present those options and then I’ll get the final call on them.

“We’re in that process, that doesn’t mean to say I’ve got a boat-load of money to go and do it, it has to be within reason obviously and that’s been the challenge.

“But we’ll keep working and there’s lots of things I’ve been unhappy with as I want to be competitive and I want to be winning every game, because that’s how I am.

“If you want the truth, I’m only happy when I’m winning football matches, so the rest is work, but overall you have to take a measurement.

“We’re fourth bottom, we’re three points clear, not where I want to be, but probably where everybody expected us to be and we need to improve on that in the second half of the season.

“We’ve still got another two games to go in the first half, so I’m going to concentrate on that first, with a view to the January window.”

After losing 3-0 at Stoke on Tuesday night, with individual errors costing the Hatters dear, Jones did admit he would struggle to prevent those recurring, when saying: "I can’t do anything until January the first, I’ve got to get the best out of what I’ve got, that’s the truth, that’s what I’ve been doing all along, and I’m going to have to have a long term plan.”

However, he stated that didn’t mean any of the current squad weren’t in his plans going forward, adding: “The players are part of it.

“You get one or two surplus at every football club, it’s not the players that have been in the 18 or in the 20, we’re trying to improve outside of that and maybe if one or two haven’t been, we’re trying to bring people in for that reason, to make us strong, make us more competitive.

"If you speak to every football club they’d be in the same boat.”