Luton chief wary of 'wounded lion' threat from Reading at Kenilworth Road

Town boss prepared to Royals test this afternoon
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

Luton boss Nathan Jones is wary of the potential ‘wounded lion’ his side could face when they come up against Reading at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

Whereas Town have come out of lockdown with three extremely positive results, including a 1-1 draw at leaders Leeds United on Tuesday night, it’s been a very different story for the Royals.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After drawing 1-1 with Stoke, Mark Bowen’s side then went down 2-1 to Derby County, before being humbled 3-0 by Brentford on home soil in midweek.

Jones said: “It’s another Championship game which is always very, very difficult.

“Sometimes wounded lions are the most dangerous, or a load of cliches we can say, but we’ll prepare the best we can for Reading.

“I’m sure Reading and Bowds will do exactly the same for us and then we’ll go head-to-head on Saturday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"But we can’t second guess anyone, all we can do is prepare ourselves and that’s at the moment what we can really focus on.

"How we play, how we can approach and come out of games and that’s the main thing for us.”

Royals boss Bowen is in his first role as number one at the Madjeski Stadium after taking over in October 2019.

He previously spent time as an assistant, mainly to Mark Hughes, at clubs including Manchester City, Stoke City and the Welsh national side.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On his opposite number, Jones continued: “I don’t know him well but I’ve obviously come across him many times.

“He’s Welsh, familiar surroundings to myself, he’s got an excellent reputation in the game and has had a fantastic career in the game, both as a player, assistant and now as a manager.

“So I know plenty about Mark and I hope he does very well apart from on the weekend.”

One player that Jones will warn his side to keep an eye on is striker Sam Baldock too.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The experienced attacker joined Reading from Brighton, where he had worked with Jones, for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2018 and although he has only bagged five goals this term, he still represents a threat according to Town’s chief, who added: “He’s a good lad, really good lad.

"I worked with him at Brighton, they have threats, they’re a strong squad and it wasn’t long ago they were in the Premier League.

"I think they still have a fall-out of a squad from that, so it’s a big club, with a real good recent history.

"Sam I know very well, an excellent player, great pro, good lad, I enjoyed working with him, as he gave me everything.

"But we’ve got to make sure we’re at it because we have got threats and a squad capable of winning games as we’ve shown so now, we’ve got to win more than we lose.”