McCormack praised for his impact since returning for Luton

The 34-year-old missed just over six months of the season after suffering groin and calf injuries, but since returning, Town have won all four matches he has played.

It takes his record to seven wins from 13 starts so far this term, as on his eye-catching displays, Jones said: “We brought Macca in to play around 30 games and we felt if we got 30 games out of him, we’d have a real good opportunity to get promoted because he’s that influential.

“We’ve probably only got 11 or 12 out of him, so it’s been disappointing, but his win ratio has been fantastic, if you were to look at that.

“So we’re just disappointed we lost him for a big period, but he’s come back at the right time as we needed that.

"He’s played four of the last five and we’ve won all four, so that’s a real positive thing for us.”

Team-mate Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu whose best performances have often come with McCormack at the base of the diamond, continued: “He’s got his experience there, he’s played a while, so it’s good for us that he can anchor the midfield and have me, Olly (Lee) and recently Elliot Lee free roaming to do our business.

“Me and Elliot scored (against Crewe), Olly’s been playing well, he’s been injured for a while, so it’s good for him to come back and get into the midfield.”

Striker Elliot Lee knew just how vital a figure the Irishman was too, saying: "It's great to have Macca's experience in there, you can see he drives us on, he makes us do everything right and he's like that every day in training, so credit to him.

"He's had his injury problems this year, but he's always come in with a smile on his face and he's always motivated everyone else and encouraged us.

"Credit to Macca, we have missed him, and he's a real big boost for us."

McCormack, who signed on a free transfer from Brentford in the summer is one of a host of Luton players who are out of contract in the summer, including Scott Cuthbert, Alan Sheehan and Glen Rea to name a few.

Jones will keep those talks on hold until Luton have achieved their goal of promotion though, as he added: “We pretty much know what we need, it’s just we’ve been reluctant to speak yet and have those real discussions because nothing’s been achieved yet, so it’s all about doing that.

“We work tirelessly behind the scenes, we’re always a season ahead, we know what we want, so there’s no issue with that.

“What we have to do is make sure we get over the line, that’s what we have to do first before we discuss anything else.”