Hatters boss out to change history yet again as he targets Watford triumph

Town boss Nathan Jones is ready to change history yet again when his side head to sworn enemies Watford on Sunday.

Since the Welshman has been in charge of the Hatters he has ended a number of long-running hoodoos during his two spells in the Kenilworth Road hotseat, including recording long overdue wins at Nottingham Forest, Millwall and Preston, before they also defeated QPR for the first time in the league since 2006 with a 3-1 victory last weekend.

They now head to Watford looking for a first league success in almost 30 years, after Paul Telfer (2), Kerry Dixon and Scott Oakes secured a 4-2 second tier win way back in September 1994.

Town haven’t done too badly since it must be said, with four draws on the road before the 1-0 defeat in front of an empty stadium due to Covid restrictions in 2020, as on their recent run, Jones said: “With the greatest of respect, that’s derived over years.

“Now, we want to change history.

“We like changing history and this, hopefully, can be another one we can tick off.”

With the Luton fans eagerly relishing their first trip to Hertfordshire since 2006, when Ahmet Brkovic scored in a 1-1 draw, Jones is well aware it a massive game for the players and supporters.

However, he also knows that Town’s success this term won’t be based purely on how they get on against the Hornets, as he continued: “I think everyone realises how big a game it is.

“I think the players know, if they don’t they will.

"It is a big game but it’s another Championship game and we want to win it.

“With the greatest of respect to everyone at Luton, we want to win it for all the fans at Luton but the biggest thing is getting three points in the Championship.

“That is the big thing because I know some fans would say if you just stay in the division and beat Watford we will be happy. We don’t think like that.

“We want to beat Watford, we want three points every week and Sunday is absolutely no different.”

Going into the game it is Luton who are the form team, unbeaten in seven league matches in the second tier for the first time since the 1995-96 season when Lennie Lawrence was in charge, while Watford, under yet another new manager in Slaven Bilic, have lost three out of four, including a 3-0 defeat to Millwall on Wednesday night.

However, Jones knows that won’t matter a great deal going into the contest, as he said: “It’s going to be a tough, tough game.

“I watched them beat Norwich on Saturday night and they’re a really good side, got really good individuals and we know it’s going to be a wonderful occasion, but we’ll be ready.

“We know we’ve got to be right at it as this is the third ex-Premier League side in a week that we’re going to have to face and it just shows this league is so, so strong.

“It is a big game, we won’t get carried away, we’ll prepare right and we’ll go into Sunday in good form and confidence.

“They are an ex-Premier League side, they’ve spent a hell of a lot of money, have got some wonderful individuals, so we know we’re going to have to play well to get anything out of the game, but we’re in good form so we’ve got to continue that.”

With Town fans able to looking forward to the game with real optimism, then is an air of trepidation amongst some Hornets supporters, whose side are languishing down in 15th following their relegation from the Premier League last term.

On whether the home support would be worried about the test of the Hatters, Jones added: “I don’t know, I hope they’re even more worried come two o’clock on Sunday, but we can’t fathom what anyone else is thinking.

“We concentrate on ourselves.

"We’ve got to a level now where we concentrate on ourselves and that’s the big thing.

"It’s how can we affect the game and that’s a good thing for us.

"We’ve come a long way and we’re in the league now and saying ‘right, how can we affect games and not how can we contain them’ and that’s a pleasing thing for a manager.”