Moncur determined to put the work in and keep his place in the Hatters side after international break

Hatters midfielder George Moncur will continue putting the hard work in on the training ground during the international break to make sure he stays in manager Nathan Jones’ plans when the season resumes later this month.

The 27-year-old has been named in the starting line-up for Town’s last two matches, only the second time that has happened since he signed for the club in January 2019.

The extended break, although welcomed by Jones and the majority of his squad, has come just at the wrong time for Moncur, after forcing his way back into the manager’s thoughts, but he said: “It’s tough, as I’ve just come in and played the last two games.

“In the time I’ve got in between the next game, I’ll keep working on the defensive side and see if I can keep getting better and better on that.

“That’s all I can do really. I’ve got faith in my ability and hopefully it will keep showing and showing in what I can do, so as long as I work hard, I should be fine.”

Moncur boosted his case of remaining in the side when Blackburn Rovers head to Kenilworth Road on September 21, with the opening goal during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town.

Escaping the attentions of marker Adama Diakhaby, he volleyed Sonny Bradley’s header in at the near post after 21 minutes, registering on the scoresheet for the first time in almost a year.

On his first strike since the thrilling stoppage time winner against Wigan Athletic back in December 2019, Moncur said: “I give thanks to the manager who has faith in me to go and show what I can go and do, and I’m really happy for my team-mates that we’ve picked up an important four points on the road.

“I remember the person marking me was a little bit off and I thought if I could just get across him, I might have a chance.

“When I saw the ball coming over, I think he switched off for a second and I put faith in my contact as I know I’ve got good technique, so I just concentrated on hitting the ball and thankfully it went in.

“It’s great, I don’t try and get too happy and too low as that’s the character that I am.

“I’m really happy with myself. Defensively I’ve tried to get better and that’s the reason I’ve probably got in now. I’ve tried to knuckle down on that and that’s all I’m really going to focus on going forward.”

Moncur could, and really should, have opened his account for the season a few days earlier, as in the 1-0 win over Rotherham United on Wednesday night, he was denied by Millers keeper Jamal Blackman twice.

The second time saw Moncur race clean through before trying to chip the stopper, who simply stood his ground to collect the tame effort.

Town’s popular midfielder continued: “The one on Wednesday when I went clean through, I dink Sheasy (James Shea) quite a lot in training, so it was in my head to do it.

"I could have had two or three then, but thankfully I got one today.

“I was quite tired second half as I haven’t played a lot of football, but I thought Huddersfield were quite a good team.

"They look to play and had a good rotation of movement, but four points for me, from my point of view, is really good, really positive.

“They had a couple of chances early on, if we’d have got over that period of maybe 15-20 minutes without them scoring, I reckon we could have nicked the game.

"It wasn’t meant to be, but a point’s a good result."

Moncur’s goals are usually followed by a sprint to the supporters, Town’s or their opponents, although this time that wasn’t the case with the game being played behind closed doors.

When describing the lack of fans, he said: “It’s a bit of a different experience but it’s been for a while and I’m getting used to it every time I get on or play.

"It’s getting quite natural now and I don’t really think about it too much, but it will be great to have the fans back.”

Town can now go into the break on the back of an excellent two games, as they bounced back from a 3-0 defeat against Brentford with four points from six in Yorkshire.

It lifted Town to 10th in the table, just two points adrift of the play-offs, as Moncur added: “I’m not sure how look it took us to get that last season, what are we on now 11 (points)?

"So it’s going well for the team and hopefully we can push on.”