Hatters captain hails 'brilliant' Town boss Jones for his support with personal issues

Luton skipper Sonny Bradley is eager to repay manager Nathan Jones for the manner in which he has supported him through his off the field problems this season.

The centre half missed over a month of the campaign recently given compassionate leave for matters in his personal life which have remained private, before coming back against Coventry last month and then suffering a slight injury that kept him out for a further period.

His time away from the game happened with the full support of Jones though, who Bradley was keen to praise for the manner in which he dealt with his enforced absence, saying: “When it comes to help off the pitch, he’s brilliant.

“For unfortunate reasons I’ve had to have a little bit of time away from the football club and the manager made that easy for me, made it comfortable for me.

"Over the past few years, on a personal note, things have happened in my life which have been difficult (Bradley’s dad passed away in December 2020), and the club’s been fantastic with me, the manager has been fantastic with me and I can’t thank them enough for that.

"In my head, my mentality, the way I can repay them, is by putting in good performances and if I keep doing that I can help us achieve what we want to do this season."

Bradley was back to lead the side in their goalless draw at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, Luton stretching their unbeaten run to five games, as Jones said: “He’s had a tough time, had a few personal things go on and he’s captain of the club, but I thought he did really, really well and we've missed having all our centre halves fit."

The defender couldn’t have had a much tougher return to the second tier, up against a Baggies front three containing the lively Brandon Thomas-Asante, plus former West Ham winger Grady Diangana as well.

Leading scorer Karlan Grant was also introduced late on, but on how he felt he managed the contest, Bradley added: “Last 10 minutes I was kind of winging it.

"It’s one of those when you haven’t played for a while, Championship football is difficult, it’s quick.

"You see them making a sub, they bring Karlan Grant on who was fit, fresh and he can run, so I had to put a shift in at the end.

"It was good to get through it, not just physically, but mentally as well.

"We’ve got a full week now to rest and recover next couple of days and then put some more work in next week and get ready for Queens Park Rangers.”