Palmer has to prove he's the one Jones is looking for

On-loan forward Ollie Palmer has to prove he'ss the striker who can fill the gap in Hatters' squad next season according to boss Nathan Jones.
Luton striker Ollie PalmerLuton striker Ollie Palmer
Luton striker Ollie Palmer

The Luton chief confirmed he will be looking to add a permanent attacker in the summer to accompany the likes of Danny Hylton, Isaac Vassell and Jack Marriott.

On Palmer, who has scored two goals in 13 games since arriving from Leyton Orient on deadline day, Jones said: “He’s got a chance. We want to have variation in our strikers, there’s three under contract, so there is a space available for one.

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“We’ve got Jack (Marriott), who’s different. He’s small, very low centre of gravity, (plays) off shoulders.

“Isaac (Vassell) is learning his trade, Danny (Hylton) pretty much does everything at this level, so there’s a spot for one striker there.

“He gives us that different option and that little bit more presence, so he’s a nice option to have.”

“He’s got an opportunity and got the minimum of four games to prove that.”

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When asked what Palmer, who isn’t available to play against his parent club tomorrow, needs to do to show Jones he should be the answer to the Town chief’s search, he said: “I’d like to see him score a minimum of four winnings goals that give us the maximum points.

“In terms of him, he has to one to come on, be aggressive, get us up the pitch, if he adds goals to that then great.

“But what we want, is we want to have four different strikers, a variation, and he needs to show us that if we’re going to take a big one, an aggressive one, that he’s the one.

“The competition that he has from outside what we’ll be able to bring in the summer, the pool will be slightly bigger.

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“So he’s got to make sure what he’s done in the last two games when he’s come on, he’d doing on a regular basis.

“Because we’d always like him to start and have that impetus from the start, because we’ve got that with Danny, Jack and Isaac are different.

“They’re still young and have different potency to the other two, so we’ll have variation in all four that you really need to you want to compete at any level.”

Town skipper Scott Cuthbert would be happy to see Palmer become a full time member of the squad next season, saying: “He’s settled in well and he’ll be desperate to play as much as he can.

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“I share a lift with him every day, he’s certainly not shy is big Olly, he’s full of confidence on and off the park.

“He’s done excellent, you’ve seen when he’s come on, he’s a big, strong boy, puts himself about.

“He’s scored a couple of important goals for us so would be nice to see him next year.”

Meanwhile, when discussing future additions to the club over the summer, Jones admits any additions will hinge on what division they find themselves playing in.

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He added: “We’ve earmarked players that we’d like to bring to the football club.

“We’re not looking too far ahead, we’ve got to make sure that we do the job that we want to do this season.

“Then there’s things in place that if we do this, then these will happen and if we do that, then there’s others.

“The planning’s constant, we’re a year in advance anyway as players we recruited last year.

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“Alan Sheehan, Glen Rea, Johnny Mullins, Jordan Cook, Danny Hylton, Luke Gambin, these are all players that we believe can play at a higher level anyway.

“So they were all recruited to take us there and we feel we are more suited to the next level, the problem is just getting there.”