Hatters chief believes Luton are good enough to finish top eight in the Championship

Luton boss Nathan Jones insists his side can target a top eight place in the Championship this season.

The Hatters reached the 20-game mark on 27 points thanks to a goalless draw against title-challengers Bournemouth at the weekend.

Last term, Millwall finished in eighth spot on 68 points, with an average of just under 70 enough for the position over the last five seasons.

With Town in 14th at the moment, six points away from eighth, currently occupied by Boxing Day opponents Reading, Jones said: “The performances levels we’ve had have been excellent, apart from Cardiff, we’ve been excellent.

“Look at Swansea, we’re the better side against Swansea, we’ve been the better side against Nottingham Forest, against Birmingham, these are big clubs, these are big sides, but we’re showing we’re in a good place.

“Now I don’t think we’ve got the points total we should have had, but let’s hope we can rectify that as what we’ve got to do is continue growing.

“All they need is a little bit more belief and a little bit more quality, as if we’ve got a little bit more belief and a little bit more quality, we’re top eight, I genuinely believe that.”

Goalkeeper James Shea also had the belief of his manager too, saying: “I think we can go as far as we want to go if I’m honest.

“I feel like we are a good Championship team, we should be looking up rather than looking down.

“So if we carry on doing what we’re doing, keep everyone fit, everyone raring to go, I don’t see why not.”

Town head to the Madjeski Stadium this weekend to face a Royals side who have dropped off the pace after a blistering start, on a run of seven defeats from their last 12 games, with just three victories.

Luton will then host their Berkshire opponents on Saturday, January 9 in the FA Cup third round, having also beaten Veljko Paunovic’s side in the Carabao Cup back in September.

Shea continued: “We never stop playing Reading it seems and then we’ve got them again in a few weeks time, so it’s going to be another tough game.

“Every game is tough in this league, you can’t predict anything, so we’ll rest up now, prepare right and then go again next week.

“We’re not scared of anyone, we go into each game believing we’re going to win the game, if you’re going to be scared there’s no point playing.

“So we’ll prepare right, rest up now and we go again, go and try and get the win next week.”

Meanwhile, Jones added: “They’re all difficult, you can’t say which ones you’re going to win and which you’re not.

“But what you have to do is make sure you’re right, you compete and you’re ready for those games.

“We’ll be ready, we’ve got a good squad, we believe we have a good enough squad to compete.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up, Reading are a good side, Bristol City, those are two that want to get promoted this year, then QPR as well.

“It’s a tough run of fixtures, but we’ve shown that we can compete.”