Hatters striker felt Town had lost their way in the Championship

Town attacker Danny Hylton felt that the club had lost its way slightly during their first season back in the Championship under former manager Graeme Jones.

The Hatters were 23rd in the table, six points away from safety when the campaign was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic in early March.

It saw Luton make a change at the top, with Jones and three of his backroom staff leaving just over a month later, former boss Nathan Jones recently reappointed for his second spell.

Hylton believes the return of Jones, who had won promotion to League One during his first stint at the helm, has already led to a spring in the players’ step that had been missing previously.

He said: “I got on really well with him (Nathan Jones), the whole squad got on really with him.

“It was an atmosphere, a team environment that you don’t get at many places.

“It was manager, staff, players, we were all together.

“It wasn’t staff and manager and players, we were in it together, we were a tight knit group and we loved it.

“I don’t want to say bad about anyone or go into previous managers, but I think we lost our way a little bit.

“The things that we built, we lost them.

“It’s back already, to be honest, it’s like he’s (Nathan Jones) never been away.

“It’s like the old times again, so I’m sure that will benefit us and we look forward to playing the games.”

Hylton himself had been injured for the majority of Graeme Jones’ stint as Luton boss, after undergoing a number of knee operations.

He returned to make the bench after Christmas though, but following his comeback in the 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on February 12, only featured for another two minutes in the next five outings, against Brentford, despite Town often searching for a goal.

On whether he felt he should have been utilised more, Hylton continued: “Yes and no.

“I would love to have been involved or used a little bit more but from conversations with Graeme it quickly became quite evident that I wasn’t going to be.

“I was ready and I was chomping at the bit to get back involved.

“I’ll never forget when we were playing Sheffield Wednesday, the fans sing your song and that was an unbelievable moment.

To be fair, they probably got me subbed on that day!

“Like I said, I would have loved to be involved more but he was the manager at the time and he had his players and his philosophy.

“Without going into detail, he was big on trust and you had to earn his trust through playing basically and through being injured, I hadn’t earned his trust.

“He was honest and explained the situation so I had to respect that.

“He’s now gone and there is a manager now who knows me and trusts me and hopefully I can get on the pitch a little bit more.”

The news that Jones had lost his job at Kenilworth Road came a month into lockdown and out of the blue for most Hatters supporters.

On whether he had felt shocked by the decision, Hylton added: “Yes and no.

“We are where we are in the table, so he was going to be under some sort of pressure I imagine as we weren’t where we wanted to be.

“I’m aware he had a tough job, but the hierarchy took care of that decision and ultimately he did lose his job.

“But we’re all delighted that Nathan’s back now and it’s a good addition and one that we’re all really happy about.”