Jones hails his game-changers as Hatters hit back to hold Lilywhites

As he so often did during his first spell as manager, Luton boss Nathan Jones hailed the importance of his game-changers once more, after one of them, Callum McManaman, came up trumps during the Hatters' 1-1 draw with Preston North End this afternoon.

With five players now allowed to be used from the bench, in a bid to prevent club's picking up injuries due to the congested schedule to finish the Championship campaign in a month after the coronavirus pandemic, then Jones took full advantage of his extra allocation, bringing on his full complement with Town trailing 1-0.

it gave Luton the boost they so desperately needed as well, with two of them combining for what could be an absolutely crucial point.

A quickfire move started by Simon Sluga and then recovered by Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu saw right back James Bree, on for Martin Cranie, find McManaman, who had replaced Izzy Brown, inside the visitors half.

The winger sprinted forward, before unleashing a terrific angled drive from just outside the box that arrowed past Declan Rudd to lift his side a point closer to safety.

Jones said: "We said (about) the importance of game-changers, we always reiterate that and we always have.

"Whether we’ve been up, or whether we’ve had to chase a game or whether we've had to take a game away from a team, in the past we’ve always reiterated the importance of having game-changers.

“In today’s environment, it’s even more so because of fitness levels.

"We made subs, we felt, at the right time. Could we have done it earlier? Maybe because the impact they had was superb.

“We’re really pleased for Macca but he’s been so bright. Breesy is very good going forward, so we’re pleased with the impact they had.

“There was not much in the game. Preston are a well-drilled, experienced side that have been together for a long time, so for us to match those, I was pleased.

“It’s probably unfair to say we could’ve nicked it, but we finished stronger and that’s the thing I was pleased with.

“We've played wide, a good ball in from Breesy, he's in a great position and it’s a wonderful finish from Macca, we were right behind it and it would’ve taken something like that, because we didn’t create too much today, like we normally do.

“That’s something we’ll address because we have another four to five weeks work, fluent work, to do, but I'm pleased to get off the mark because it was important we did that and I don't really think there really deserved to be a winner.

"They had slightly more possession I would imagine, but in terms of clear cut chances, they were few and far between."

Although Town now only have eight games left to try and save their Championship status, Jones was satisfied with the start made, as the result did push Town one point closer to safety.

He added: "I’m pleased to get off the mark, because it’s important we did that. I don’t really think there deserved to be a winner today.

“They had slightly more possession, I would imagine, but in terms of clear-cut chances, there was very few and far between.

"It’s a bit mixed, really. I don’t think we were anywhere near where we needed to be.

"Probably up until their goal, I thought we looked very solid, defensively, we were very good, they worked so hard, it’s just we lacked a bit of fluency.

“That’s maybe to be expected with the lay-off and only three weeks, really, to work with them, as they’ve been excellent.

“To go down to a goal that’s not a great goal to give away, you’ve got to deal with the first ball and then we’ve got to somehow deal with (Scott) Sinclair a little bit more.

“I felt we limited them to very little and really, really finished strongly.

"I think, if we’d have had a full house at the Kenny, I think we might have gone on and nicked that."