Town chief prepared to face an ‘attacking’ Peterborough side in Championship opener

Luton boss Nathan Jones is readying his side to come up against an attacking outfit in Championship new-boys Peterborough United this afternoon.

The Posh won promotion to the second tier on the back of scoring 83 times last term, with striker Jonson Clarke-Harris responsible for a mighty 31 one of them, both Sammie Szmodics and Siriki Dembele reaching double figures too.

They have bolstered their forward options over the summer, with ex-Luton frontman Jack Marriott arriving, while also spending big money on wingers Kwame Poku from Colchester and Exeter’s Joel Randall.

Speaking about the task ahead of his team, Jones said: “Any time you play Peterborough it is a big game.

“They always have good attacking options, a front three of Clarke-Harris, Szmodics and Dembele – some talented individuals there.

“They have players we know, some players we have actually had in the football club.

“They can always cause you problems but what we have to do is make sure that we cause more problems, that is what we believe here.

“It will be about concentrating on Luton being the best version of ourselves and if we are then I can’t ask for anymore.

“If Peterborough are better than us, then we will need some luck to win but all I can affect is what we do.

“It’s a fantastic opening fixture in terms of being at home and relatively local rivals.

“The ground will be full, we are in decent form in terms of what we have, itching and chomping at the bit to get going.

“Hopefully we can have the same kind of positive season.”

It’s not just one former Hatter in Marriott that United added during the summer, but midfielder Jorge Grant, who spent six months on loan at Kenilworth Road during the first half of the 2018-19 campaign joined from Lincoln as well.

Jones continued: “Both of them did reasonably well for us.

“Obviously Jack was here for a couple of seasons and did well for me.

“Jorge came in and to be fair, we wanted to sign Jorge permanently but it didn’t quite work out so we had to take him on loan.

“Loan players are never as settled but we were delighted we took Jorge, he scored some vital goals for us, he is an excellent player and he went and found a real home at Lincoln.

“I know them both well and as I said, I hope they have decent seasons apart from against us.”

Managed by Darren Fergson, who is now in his third spell at London Road, the boss added a fourth promotion to his CV by leading Posh to the Championship last term.

Jones said: “He has done a good job whenever he has gone.

“Doncaster as well, he got promoted with them, and did well at Peterborough.

“He is very experienced, they have a clear way of playing and have good footballers.

“They are always an attacking side, they always cause threats and I have the utmost respect for Darren and his staff, we know it will be a tough game.”

Ahead of the match, Ferguson himself stated that Luton’s efforts of finishing 12th last season were the ‘benchmark’ for his team to aim for in their first campaign back at this level since 2013.

On hearing that, Jones added: “Well, that’s nice to hear.

“If they can do that, then I’m sure it will be a success, without being patronising or condescending in any way.

“It’s a tough league and you can’t just go ‘bang bang’ through this league.

“The first year that Luton were in the league was all about consolidation, so when I came back for nine games, that was my sole purpose.

“Last year was to be established as a Championship club, which we felt we did.

“Now, it’s to build on that established foundation.

“I’m sure Darren will have his own ambitions for this season.

“Whatever they are, I won’t second-guess them, or even think to put a label on them, but I’m sure they will be striving for what they feel is achievable for them.”