Jones praises Adebayo's honesty after Luton striker revealed being affected by off-field problems during goal drought

Luton boss Nathan Jones has praised striker Elijah Adebayo for the honesty in which he spoke about the off-field problems which he felt contributed to his poor start to the season after finally getting off the match with his first goals of the season during the 3-3 draw against Huddersfield on Tuesday night.

Having ended his 10-game drought for the campaign with a first half brace, the former Fulham youngster spoke candidly for well over 15 minutes to the press afterwards, detailing some of the reasons behind a difficult few months, going on to apologise to supporters for not being at his best.

After revealing his form left with having struggling with sleepless nights, the striker admitted he had needed the international break to reset and begin feeling mentally in the right place once more, with his double lifting the ‘dark cloud’ that been having over him.

Jones, who signed the 24-year-old from Walsall for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be around £250,000 back in February 2021, thought it took real character for Adebayo to not only discuss his issues, but with the help of those at Kenilworth Road, come through them.

He said: “It’s a human side.

“What people tend to forget is that they go ‘they should be doing this.’

“That’s why I’ve said, we’re a different club.

"We’ve got a great set of fans, great processes and great structure at our football club, but things don’t happen automatically.

“There are so many things that have to happen for us to perform really well.

“What I think we have at our club is a real honesty, a togetherness and an alignment right from the board, to the staff, the players and that continues into the fans as well.

“I think we’ve got a top-end club here. There are not many clubs that are aligned like we are and, sometimes, people need a bit of help.

“It’s not because they’re not trying, or they don’t look bothered, or they think they should be playing in the Premier League.

“We’ve got good players and good characters here and sometimes, they just have a tough time.

“But we have to remember where we’ve all come from.

“I sometimes have a tough time with results and I take it badly and so on, but I’ve gained experience in certain places where I’ve been, it’s helped me come through that.

“Elijah’s had a bad spell as a top Championship centre forward, but he’s come through that and that shows a real resolve and a real character.

“He needs help to do that because he doesn’t just figure out everything on his own.

"That’s where experience comes in and he’s got good people around him.

“People like Carlton (Morris), Cameron Jerome, who would’ve gone through tough spells.

“Harry Cornick went through one, even though his performances were good. He scored one goal and he’s come through that.

“They’re not robots and the fact he was honest, it shows a certain character.

"These are good people and people that I would want to support.

“If I was a fan, I would want to see Elijah Adebayo, I would want to help him, I would want to encourage him because he wants to do well for this football club.

“And, with the greatest of respect, he cost a fraction of what some Championship strikers cost.

"He gets paid less than a lot of them, but does more and shows a level of commitment and humility to our football club that I’d want to see if I was a fan.

"That’s why we’ve got him.”

Jones also thought having been catapulted into the spotlight after a season in which he scored 17 goals to lift Luton into the play-offs, leading to continued speculation around his future, was one of a number of new factors to deal with that could be jotted down as having affected Adebayo’s performances this term as well.

He added: “There’s a million things why.

"He picked up an injury at the end of last year, we couldn’t really push him in pre-season, so he didn’t have the aggressive pre-season that he had the year before.

“Then second full season, the expectation levels, we bring two strikers in, that can have a psychological effect.

"Yes, he’s had a couple of personal issues in terms of family, he’s had to deal with that, there’s been a lot of talk around him, so you add all of that up and there’s distractions, things in your mind.

"He’s only human and he’s young, he’s not been used to this type of stature in the game if you like, so he’s just had to handle that and come to terms with that.

"We’ve talked him through it, worked with him, done everything.

"I trust him, I’ve got real big faith in him in terms of how he goes about his work, and hopefully now we’re starting to see the best of him.

"It’s so easy to criticise and say ‘he's not this, he’s not that, get him out.’

"Sometimes you have to persevere with people, you have to show them that you care, you trust and you believe in them, and that’s all we’ve done with Elijah.

"He’ll always repay us as he’s a great kid, he really, really is.”