Luton boss has 'food for thought' after Cobblers win

Luton chief Nathan Jones hailed the depth of his squad after a 3-0 win at Northampton Town in their club's final pre-season friendly on Saturday.

With an hour gone and the scores goalless, Jones introduced nine new players to the fray in search of an opener.

Almost immediately the Hatters took the lead through Cian Bolger's own goal, before netting twice more to seal a comfortable triumph.

Jones said: "We say about game-changers and impact and everyone’s competing here for positions as it’s not a set team or anything, so it gives you food for thought.

"They came on with a real zest and a real energy and we like that, they were excellent, I really did think they were excellent.

"It’s pleasing, because this is a difficult place. We wanted a difficult place, we wanted to come to a place where we knew we’d get pressed, knew we’d get tested.

"It's a different test from the Championship in terms of the directness.

"We had to handle that for the last 15-20 minutes against Blackburn to survive, so it shows we’re improving as a side, and it’s very pleasing.

"We scored some goals, a clean sheet, so a decent day."

Once the changes were made, Luton looked a far more cohesive unit as they broke down their hosts thanks to a comedic own goal, keeper Steve Arnold hammering his clearance into defender Bolger under pressure from James Collins, the ball rebounding into the net.

Kazenga LuaLua then made it 2-0 after speeding on to Ryan Tunnicliffe's long ball out of defence to beat Arnold and chip home from outside the box, as Jones continued: "I think there were some really good moves.

"Kaz late on and George late on where we probably should score with the chip, but the second goal I’m really pleased with.

"It’s something we’ve worked on all week in terms of stretching the play as the number of runs we make from midfield and from out to in, that’s really, really pleasing.

"Collo works so hard, it's a bit of an error you’d say for the first goal but we’ll take whatever we can get and I’m pleased.

“It was a really tough game as well in terms of the pitch and the wind was blowing gale.

"These are a well drilled side in terms of what they do, so we had to make sure that we did all the ugly stuff in the first half and the second half I thought we were much, much better.

"The game opened up slightly to get into real good situations, and I’m disappointed it wasn’t a little bit more, but we’re pleased.

"It’s a win, another clean sheet, we haven’t conceded a goal in pre-season yet, so we’re in a decent enough position."

Defender Martin Cranie completed the scoring late on, carrying on from last term, where he managed the most prolific of his 15-year career, netting twice.

Jones added: "He’s a very accomplished defender, he's had a fantastic career.

"I played with him when he was starting out, and he has an assurance about him.

"He’s cultured, he doesn’t panic and he’s played at this level for a long time, so he adds that quality to us."